The Renaissance of Hatake Mari
by ILoveReadingAndWriting
Summary: Life is is full of changes. It is a series of beginnings, transitions if you will - or so one Hatake Mari believes. As an aspiring kunoichi, it is her goal to defy the sterotype of shinobi everywhere - to prove a shinobi can master the Art of Happiness, and like a certain hyperactive blonde she knows, she won't give up until she sees it through.
1. Pictures, New Dads, and Memories

Chapter One:

A pretty, young girl awoke to golden rays of sunlight filtering into her room through her window. A silent yawn escaped her sleepy mouth as she stretched and ran a tired hand through her dark, chocolate brown locks. One deep blue eye opened lazily to peek around her room, now bathed in the sun's early morning glory.

It was a nice, but simple room with peridot green walls and oak wood floors. A large window opened to the east to let the sun in each morning. Along the adjacent wall a door stood partially open to the rest of the house, revealing a small hallway. Between both of these was the bed accompanied by the presence of a nightstand, upon which an alarm clock proudly pronounced the time to be 6:05 in large, glowing red numbers.

The room was littered with ninja weapons and various scrolls, all showing signs of recent use and plenty of wear. Clearly the small brunette was a kunoichi in training. It was obvious by the look of the room that she spent much of her time training and studying.

Further investigation would reveal a favorite past time of hers: music. A dark blue electric guitar stood back to back with a simple contemporary one made of a light, honey colored wood between the bed and the window. An open violin case displayed a beautiful spruce instrument and was laid on the top of a large dresser directly opposite the bed; beside this, sat a simple but elegant silver flute, shining in the bright light. In the corner stood a keyboard and a stool to match. Various sheets of music were scattered about the room with scribbles and notes, showing works in progress or famous pieces.

What her eyes lingered on longest, however, were the three pictures that took the honored spot directly next to the alarm clock on her nightstand. The first was a picture of a younger version of the girl – perhaps about five years in age – clinging piggy back style to a silver haired, masked man who looked like he was trying to hide his amusement at her crazy smile and wave to the camera. The second was one that had been taken just after her acceptance to the Ninja Academy of Konoha with a girl that quickly became her best friend. The two stood smiling, side-by-side, the brunette confident and the dark-blue haired Lolita blushing shyly. She had strange, yet stunning lavender eyes and smooth porcelain skin that made her look like a living doll. The third and most recent of the photos showed the brunette standing with another boy her age. His eyes were a lighter blue than hers and his hair a blond, spiky mess atop his head. He wore an odd orange jumpsuit (though his jacket was tied around his wait revealing his white t-shirt) and green goggles and had his arm slung around her shoulders as he attempted to give her a noogie, much to her apparent hilarity. Both of them were smiling like there was no tomorrow.

A soft sigh echoed about the room momentarily, followed by the soft rustling of sheets and the muted sounds of someone padding barefoot across the wooden floor.

This young girl's name was Hatake Mari, adopted daughter of Hatake Kakashi. She was ten years old and the top girl in her class, second only to the famous Uchiha Sasuke – some guy she barely bothered to notice in her day-to-day life. She could still remember the day she met Kakashi –or Kashi as she called him.

She had been three years old when nineteen-year-old Kakashi had found her stumbling through the woods, running for her dear life and bleeding profusely from multiple cuts and scratches all over her body. He had stopped her against her will and gotten her to explain frantically that she had been running from someone bad, but for the life of her she couldn't remember who. She was alone, injured, and very afraid. She didn't remember anything at all. Just darkness and laughter and a strong, heavy killing intent that had sent her running for the hills; though of course she didn't even remember when she had began to run.

Kakashi, pitying her for her apparent lack of home and family, took her to Konoha to see the Hokage about finding her a place to stay. However, he never expected that he would insist on being the one to take care of her.

*Flashback*

"_Kashi? How come your hair's so pwetty?" An innocent voice inquired from behind the Jounin. Kakashi looked over his shoulder at Mari who was clinging to his back as she supported her legs piggy back style._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_It's all silver and soft and stuff. How'd it get like that?"_

"_Well…I don't know. It's always been like that."_

"_Really?" The childish wonder in her voice didn't escape him. "I wish my hair was like that."_

_Kakashi chuckled as they continued down the path that led to Konoha._

"_So what Kohana like?"_

"_You mean Konoha?"_

"_Yeah! That! Is it big? Are there lots of people? Do they all have hair like yours?"_

"_Konoha is __very__ big. It's one of the strongest Shinobi villages in existence. So yes, there are lots of people. As for hair, the people there have all kinds of hair though I have yet to meet someone with hair exactly like mine."_

_Mari seemed to think about this for a moment._

"_So you're a ninja right?"_

"_Yes, I am."_

"_Can I be a ninja?"_

"_If you decide to attend the Academy and you get admitted."_

"_Good, 'cause I wanna be just like you Kashi!"_

*End Flashback*

It had only taken thirty minutes to get him attached. Thirty minutes for them to bond so thoroughly. It was an unanticipated, but not an unwanted, outcome.

The Hokage had readily granted the young child citizenship and permission to attend the academy when she was of age. When it was inquired as to where she would like to stay, she proudly proclaimed that she wanted to stay with "Kashi". The Jounin had no objections for the time being and so it was settled. Mari would be staying with Kakashi until she was old enough to get her own apartment and take care of herself. But once again, time changed this.

It was only two years later when Kakashi proposed adopting her. Not because he necessarily wanted a daughter, but because with his will or against it she had wriggled her way into his heart and become like family. The five-year-old was ecstatic of course. She was generally a happy person, though Kakashi's lazy, laid back attitude had rubbed off on her some, even at such a young age. The two of them couldn't have imagined it turning out any other way.

**A/N) I know it's short but I've had a lot of stuff to do with the holidays and all. I've already started on the next chapter so I'm doing my best! Special thanks to AnimeLover5125 for alerting my story and konohaninmiharuchan for favoriting! *cries* You guys are the best!**

**R&R Please!**


	2. Corronation, Hinata, and The Last Year

Chapter Two

The next year was the year when the others her age would attend their first year at Konoha Academy. She joined them happily, excited about beginning her ninja training. The day of the coronation was the day she first met Hyuga Hinata.

*Flashback*

"_And so, it is my pleasure to formally welcome these young minds to Konoha's very own Ninja Academy! I hope to see them grow to make Konoha proud!"_

_There was a bout of cheers and applause from students and parents alike as the third Hokage finished his speech. Finally, all were dismissed to go about their lives accordingly, though most decided to stay and chat, the parents talking to old friends while the students attempted to make new ones._

_In this crowd of busy bodies one girl stood, looking around curiously at her new classmates. That was when she spotted a black/dark purple-haired girl at the edge of the crowd, looking rather shy and quite nervous about how many people were there. Mari decided to go talk to her. She looked nice enough after all._

"_Hiya there!" Mari beamed, giving the girl a friendly wave._

"_H-h-hi," The girl mumbled back shyly, her whitish-purple eyes flitting between the outgoing brunette and her twiddling fingers. Mari noticed her hesitance, not to mention her stutter, and decided to tone it down a bit, her giant smile being replaced by a smaller, but equally friendly one._

"_My name's Mari. Do you wanna be friends?"_

_Clearly shocked by her straightforward-ness, all the girl could do was nod politely._

"_Awesome! Though it might help a little knowing your name," she gently teased, making sure her new found friend knew she was kidding around. The dark-haired girl blushed, seemingly embarrassed about having forgotten to introduce herself._

"_G-gomen…m-my n-n-name is H-Hyuga H-H-Hinat-ta."_

"_Oooh! I like your name! Doesn't it mean 'a sunny place'?"_

_The Hyuga nodded timidly._

"_Wow, you're lucky. You have such a pretty name. Mine just means 'obstinacy' or 'their rebellion.' Kinda weird, huh?" Mari chuckled, drawing a smile from Hinata, who seemed to be become increasingly comfortable with being around her. Suddenly Mari had an idea._

"_Hey, my dad and I were going to go to Ichiraku's Ramen Bar to celebrate. Do you and your family wanna come with?" Hinata became nervous again as she glanced over to a man out of the corner of her eye. He was tall and stern-looking and had a dark tunic and loose pants. He too had dark hair (though Hinata's was darker and his was more brown than anything) but it was long, reaching around the middle of his back. Mari came to the conclusion that they were related and that the decision would lay with him._

"_Is that your dad?" The outgoing girl asked curiously, ocean blue eyes sparkling with a calm sort of effervescence. The young Hyuga nodded hesitantly, a bit more nervously than before._

"_Well, if you want I could go ask for you. That is if you guys don't already have other plans." She made sure to keep her manners about her just as her dad had taught her._

"_W-well, I-I…We d-d-don't exactly h-have any-ything p-p-planned…" The Lolita pushed two of her fingers together shyly before her, hoping her new friend wouldn't judge her family for it. The brunette, however, was thinking of no such thing. As a matter of fact, before she could blink, Hinata was being dragged over to her father who was speaking with a few other men – fathers of their fellow classmates – by the excited girl._

_The two stood there for just a moment, Hinata nervously, and Mari with a politely quiet patience, waiting for a slight lull in the conversation so she could interrupt without being quite so rude._

"_Sumimasen," She began eventually, drawing attention to herself and the pale girl beside her, "Hyuga-san, my name is Hatake Mari. I was wondering if you would be okay with Hinata-san eating dinner with my father and I? You see, we would like to celebrate my admission and we were hoping Hinata's, as well as our new friendship. Your daughter is very kind."_

_The elder Hyuga's eyebrow rose in question as he gazed down at the two six-year-olds before him. The name Hatake struck him with curiosity. He knew Kakashi had taken in an orphan not too long ago and word had spread of the adoption. She was well known around Konoha for her polite manners and insistent formality with anyone but her father. He had seen the two on occasion at the market or at the training grounds where Hatake-san would show her how to throw a kunai – presumably after much insistence on the younger one's part. No one knew much about her abilities and as such he wasn't sure what to make of her proclaiming friendship with his eldest daughter. She did seem to set a good example though, that was something he couldn't argue with._

_Still, the elder Hyuga was hesitant. He refused to have his daughter associate with anyone less than a genius. He knew he probably couldn't stop interactions in class, but anything else could be detrimental to her education._

_It was within this small silence of thought that Hatake Kakashi himself walked up to the group._

"_Hello Mari, I see you've made a new friend. Hello Hyuga-san," The silver-haired Jounin greeted the important council member._

"_Hiya Kashi-tou!" Mari greeted him enthusiastically, causing the jounin's eye to curve into a smile._

"_Hatake-san, I hear you have invited my daughter to have lunch with you this afternoon?" The elder Hyuga addressed the newcomer._

_Kakashi shot a quick glance at Mari who looked up at him hopefully._

"_Your daughter is welcome to eat with us any time Hyuga-san."_

_The stern man grunted in acknowledgement._

"_Be sure she gets home by seven."_

_To put it simply, Hinata had been very happy to have her father's permission to spend the day with her new found friend. Mari was every bit as happy as she was. Over lunch and the following few hours they had talked about anything and everything that came to mind. Flowers, clothes, music, hobbies, the academy, family, and they even broached the subject of guys once or twice._

…

"_So Hina-kun? You like anybody?" The laid-back brunette asked her shy counterpart._

"_A-ano…" she mumbled, looking unsure of herself. Mari's eyes widened._

"_You like someone don't you?" She grinned widely. "Well are you gonna tell me or do I have to guess?"_

_The Lolita blushed in response before speaking up._

"_I-I j-just met him, Mari!"_

"_Ooooh! So you've got a crush on him?"_

"_W-well… he's r-really n-nice, but no one r-really s-s-seems to l-like him that m-much."_

_Mari's smile disappeared, replaced by a look of sincere curiosity._

_The two were sitting in Mari's room; both perched on the girl's bed as they watched the peaceful sky out of Mari's window. It was already about five in the afternoon and it had only been six hours since the girls had met, yet they were acting as though they had known each other their whole lives._

"_Why not? Did he do something wrong?" She was a little confused as to why Hinata would like someone like that seeing as she was so sweet and shy, but figured if the girl liked bad boys she wasn't really one to stop her. She'd just be sure to be there and beat the guy up if he tried anything funny._

"_N-no." Her perfect brow scrunched up in thought. "A-at least I d-don't think s-so." Both girls frowned as they thought about it. Weird, someone not being liked for no reason._

"_Well…what did he look like?"_

"_A-ah," Hinata blushed again, causing Mari to giggle at her friend's expense._

"_That cute, huh?"_

_Hinata could easily be described as a ripe tomato._

"_M-Mari!" Said girl just chuckled as she turned to watch a bunny-shaped cloud fluff its way across the sky. A small silence settled and Mari gave her the opportunity to start up the conversation again. Hinata soon enough took the opportunity._

"_W-well… he has b-blond hair and b-blue eyes th-that are l-l-light-ter than y-yours." That was understandable, as Mari's eyes were an unusually dark shade of blue. They changed depending on the lighting but were mostly a deep, calming ocean-like color that sparkled nearly all the time._

"_H-he also…" Hinata paused, "h-he had th-these m-marks on h-his ch-ch-cheeks t-too. Like w-whiskers."_

"_Whiskers, eh? That sounds pretty cool if you ask me." Hinata nodded._

"_Do you know his name?"_

"_W-well, s-some p-people were s-shouting 'N-N-Naruto' really l-loud when h-he t-tipped the p-punch bowl o-over at the c-cor-ronation."_

"_Naruto…isn't that an ingredient in ramen?" Mari thought out loud._

_The two girls drifted into thought for a moment longer._

"_Well I'd like to meet this guy, he sounds interesting."_

"_Who sounds interesting?"_

_The two of them turned to see Kakashi standing in the doorway, smudges of flour on his clothes. He never was very neat when he cooked, but he was a good cook._

"_Just some guy Hinata said she saw at the coronation today. I thought I might like to meet him. Is dinner ready?"_

_Kakashi chuckled. "All your favorites kid." Mari positively beamed as she rushed to hug him, catching him off guard._

"_Arigatou Tou-san!"_

_He hugged her back and ruffled her hair. "Not at all."_

_Soon enough, all of them were sitting down to a delicious dinner of rice and dumplings with tenpura. For dessert Kakashi had a surprise._

"_OMIGOSH! CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!" Mari squealed at the top of her lungs when the home baked treat was placed on the table._

_Everyone who knew Mari knew that she had one single weakness when it came to food._

_Chocolate chip cookies._

_To her, they were the greatest things ever invented. Gifts from God, fallen to earth in all of their warm, chewy goodness. It would amaze some people how far she would go just to get one and how happy she was once she got it._

_Needless to say, Mari immediately glomped her dad, mouth full of cookie already as she mumbled numerous thanks. Hinata giggled as she munched happily on her own cookie. The more time the girls spent with each other, the closer they got._

_That wasn't about to change anytime soon either._

*End Flashback*

Mari chuckled to herself as she remembered those days. She padded across the hardwood floors to her dresser and pulled out her outfit for the day before heading across the hall to take a shower in the bathroom that she and her dad shared. The hot water woke her up and quickly relieved the tension of sleep from her muscles as she lathered apple-scented shampoo into her waist-length, dark locks_. _She quickly scrubbed down with apple scented soap, and dried off, leaving her damp hair down to air-dry.

She got dressed next pulling on white shorts (that had tons of pockets) that came to just above her knee, a long-sleeve fishnet undershirt, a short-sleeved, dark green V-neck top with a golden dragon curling around the torso, and tied an oversized black hoodie around her waist like she always did. Next she slipped on her metal plated, dark green fingerless gloves and her ninja boots. She loved this outfit as it was one her dad helped her to pick out for her tenth birthday.

She walked back to her room before strapping on her weapons pouch and wrapping both of her lower legs (to just before her knees) with bandages. Hurriedly, she ran a brush through her still damps hair a few times before skipping downstairs to the kitchen where Kakashi was making onigiri for breakfast.

"Ohayo Kashi-tou!" She greeted cheerfully. Her dad glanced at her with his visible eye and smiled.

"Ohayo Mari. Looking forward to going to the academy?"

"Yup! Another year closer to becoming a ninja!"

"And your last year attending too."

It was indeed her last year attending the Academy. Both of them knew she would pass the test with flying colors. She had, after all, maintained her place as the second best student in all of the Academy. She was right on the heels of Uchiha Sasuke, one of her classmates, but one she never really associated with before.

As for the fact that she was still only ten? Well she would be turning eleven during the school year so she wasn't far behind her classmates in age.

A/N: I know this seems like a really bad place to leave off but I really wanted to update tonight. You know, before the weeks start up again. And look! It's longer too! Hope you like it, though it still isn't much. It's moving really slow right now but that's just because I want to get some key things written down so please be patient! We'll get to the awesome parts soon enough. Trust me, this story WILL blow your mind!

Read and Review please?

And thank you to Kattz for adding me and my story to Favorites and reviewing!

You guys all rock my socks!

~Peace :D


	3. Birthdays, Lunch, and Training

Chapter Three

"So…"

Kakashi sighed at the telltale word.

"So otou…"

He sweat-dropped. He already knew what she wanted from him.

"I was wondering…"

Mari rocked back on her heels innocently, her overwhelming innocence giving away just how contrary her actual character was.

"If maybe…"

The Jounin rolled his eye, wishing she would just ask already so he could tell her the obvious answer.

"You could tell me what you're getting me for my birthday?"

"No."

Mari drooped in disappointment, gloom-lines lightly dusting the immediate vicinity.

"Aw man, not even a hint?"

Kakashi eye smiled.

"Nope."

"Ugh."

This had become somewhat a tradition in the Hatake household. Every year on the last day of March, Mari would begin to ask about her birthday, which was actually on April 17th. Kakashi, of course, would never tell her anything. Sometimes he'd go as far as to pretend that he had forgotten about it despite her constant reminders and attempts at catching him off guard to see what he had planned for the year. Every year it was something different, so she never had the chance of guessing.

Seemingly giving up for the moment, Mari joined in the small task of rice molding, setting a few aside for her lunch that day. She couldn't wait to see her friends again after the break; especially Hinata, who had been traveling with her dad for the past few weeks on family business.

"So is it a new instrument?"

"I don't know, is it?"

She squinted her eyes at him and screwed up her face in disbelief.

"You're impossible you know that?"

He just chuckled and once more rolled his eyes, causing the brunette to sigh in defeat.

"Whatever." She grabbed two onigiri, downing one in less than four bites as she grabbed her backpack and put her bento inside to open later. "Later, Kashi-tou! I'll see you after school right?"

"Don't worry, I'll be there."

The girl closed the front door behind her quietly, shaking her head in amusement. He'd be there alright…a few hours late that is.

* * *

"NA-RU-TO!"

The sound was like music to Mari's ears. Once again, her friend Naruto's mischievous laughter filled the hallways of Konoha's very own Ninja Academy.

Mari exchanged an amused glance with her best friend Hinata before the pale-eyed girl looked worriedly at the door that would undoubtedly burst open a few seconds later to reveal both teacher and student, the former clearly already chewing the later out for his latest prank.

As predicted, the door swooshed open to reveal an angry sensei dragging a complaining student into the classroom by his ear.

"Gah! Iruka-sensei!" The blonde student wailed pitifully as he tried to stumble after his teacher without getting his ear tugged off. "It was just a joke! Common!"

"I've had enough of your jokes Naruto!" Iruka yelled at the boy.

To anyone who hadn't had the chance to witness this for the past six years, it would look awfully odd.

A clearly chuunin ninja with brown eyes, a scar across the bridge of his nose, and brown hair tied back into a spiky brown ponytail chastising a neon-orange jumpsuit-clad boy with bright blond hair and brighter blue eyes.

Odd indeed.

Still, this was one of the many oddities that Mari had gotten used to over the years. It was pretty much a daily routine.

"But Iruka-sen-," Naruto tried to argue.

"NO! This is the third time this month you've sabotaged the teachers' lounge! Setting up trip wires that trigger flying eggs is NOT a JOKE!"

Naruto was obviously trying not to cringe at the volume of his teacher's voice. He let out a dignified huff as if his teacher's lectures were pointless.

…Which they were.

Iruka-sensei looked ready to yell some more but chose to take a calming breath instead.

"Just…go sit down Naruto. You have detention after school cleaning up the teachers lounge."

With that the blonde boy sulked to his seat in front of Hinata and Mari amidst the laughter of his fellow students. Mari's eyes caught his questioningly, a friendly mirth obvious in their deep blue depths. It was her way of telling him she wanted to hear all about his latest prank later. Naruto nodded and smiled at the two girls, oblivious to Hinata's slight blush.

With that, Iruka began the lesson.

* * *

"Om, nom, nom."

Hinata giggled as her friend made weird noises while munching on onigiri.

"Mari? I-I was wondering, I-if maybe I could join y-you and your dad in t-training tomorrow?"

While Hinata was by no means nervous or shy around Mari, she had still retained some of her stutter around the girl though it had died out a lot.

Mari stopped balancing one of the rice balls on her nose and grinned at her friend.

"Duh! Kashi-tou won't mind. He says it's good to train with your friends."

This was true. Her dad always stressed how valuable bonds were and how important teamwork was. He encouraged her to train and hang out with a variety of people too as he thought of it not only as good for her social life but for her life as a ninja as well, stressing that she should get used to being observant of the people around her and be able to come to quick conclusions about their behavior, strengths and weaknesses.

"Hey guys!" An exuberant shout reached their ears and they turned to see a beaming Naruto making his way towards them, cup of ramen in hand.

"Hey Naru-kun."

"H-h-hi N-Naruto."

Ah, now would be a good time to explain about that.

You see, ever since that fateful day when Hinata told her about the blonde haired boy, Mari had been curious about the guy that had captured her friend's heart. So she immediately went about finding a solution to solving the mystery-becoming Naruto's friend.

Of course, not everyone agreed with their friendship. As Hinata had suggested, not many people liked him…well no one liked him really, though neither of the girls could fathom why.

Naruto was a happy, outgoing person who loved ramen and obnoxiously bright colors. He always went on and on about his dream of one day becoming the Hokage and never seemed to stop smiling, even when the going got tough. He was the single most dedicated boy either of them knew, though he certainly wasn't the brightest of the bunch. As a matter of fact, he was dead last in all of their classes and had failed the Genin exam twice. (He had taken it early two years straight). That small fact never seemed to deter him and he claimed eternal rivalry with the top boy in the class, Uchiha Sasuke.

Mari had secretly begun to plan getting her two friends together about a year after meeting them. So far though, her every attempt had ended in failure.

*Flashback*

"_Hey, Naruto! Wanna go to Ichiraku's with Hina and I?" Mari called out to the eight-year old boy after school._

"_Yeah! Dattebayo!"_

_The three friends made their way to the most loved ramen stand in all of Konoha, chatting (and in Hinata's case, stuttering) up a storm, talking about classes, and Naruto's pranks._

_Soon enough, the three were eating happily. Just when Mari had finished her bowl she quickly used an excuse to rush off and leave to two of them together, hopefully encouraging __**something**__ to happen._

"_Oh man! My dad's gonna kill me! I was supposed to be home fifteen minutes ago!"_

_Hinata's brow furrowed in confusion but before she could say anything, Mari was already speeding away, shouting good-bye's over her shoulder._

_This of course, left her two friends thoroughly confused and a slight awkward feeling settled in both of their stomachs as Mari was pretty much the one that had invited them in the first place. Without her around, they never really interacted much._

"_A-ano… I-I guess I s-s-should b-be h-h-headed h-home t-to…" Hinata mumbled with a blush, very nervous about being with her crush all alone._

"_Oh." Naruto deflated a bit, sad that both of his friends had to go._

_With that, Hinata left._

"_Alright, operation HANG-T commences…" Mari whispered to herself. It was only a month after the ramen incident and nothing had happened between her two friends, so she once more took it upon herself to get them together. (HANG-T : Hinata And Naruto Get Together.)_

_Currently they were all in class, enjoying five minutes of free time as Iruka-sensei had had to leave the classroom for a few minutes._

_The brunette carefully observed her surroundings, waiting for the opportune moment to put her plan into action._

_Perfect._

_Naruto had gotten up to argue with Inuzuka Kiba. Hinata was trying to nervously calm the boys down to no avail. All she needed to do was give Naruto a little nudge and…_

'_Oh crap!'_

_Mari had tried subtly pushing Naruto into Hinata only for the blonde to move at the last second. This caused Kiba to be pushed into her instead, resulting in the two of them falling to the ground, Kiba on top and a startled Hinata on the bottom._

…_and then Hinata fainted._

_Kuso._

_So there Hinata and Naruto were, on their way to meet Mari for lunch (she had mysteriously disappeared as soon as the bell for lunch rang) and completely unaware of a shadowy figure sneakily following them, waiting for the chance to strike._

"_Huh, that's funny, she's not here yet," An eight-year-old Naruto said, scratching the back of his neck in confusion._

"_M-maybe s-she h-h-had t-to u-u-use the r-rest-r-room," Hinata suggested, fiddling with her fingers nervously. She really hoped her friend would come soon._

"_Yeah, you're probably ri- uh, Hinata? There's a spider on your shoulder," Naruto pointed out calmly._

_The figure chuckled mischievously from the branch above them, holding a small see-through string that wound its way down to the spider which was very real indeed._

_Hinata's reaction wasn't the one the figure expected though. Rather than squealing and falling into the arms of the boy beside her as was the desired outcome, she calmly let the spider crawl onto her hand and set it free in the grass, forcing the figure to let go of the string less her cover be blown._

"_T-thanks," The pale-eyed girl thanked her companion calmly. The blonde just shrugged casually as the figure face-palmed, hair moving out of her face to reveal her identity-Mari._

'_You have got to be kidding me.'_

*End Flashback*

Needless to say, those were only a few of the many, many ways Mari attempted to meddle in their relationship. In one way or another, they all failed. She wasn't exactly cupid to begin with anyways.

The three friends sat and talked, enjoying one of the few days where all of them were together for lunch due to Naruto's many detentions and scoldings. Naruto happily slurped up his shrimp ramen with gusto and Hinata and Mari traded onigiri and tuna sushi. The three were talking about Naruto's prank in the teacher's lounge when suddenly Naruto got distracted by something.

"So there I was, ready to climb out the window when suddenly the door opened and-," Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he stared at a spot just over Mari's shoulder.

"Eh? Naruto? You okay?"

"AHAHAH! Sasuke is such a loser! He's running away from a bunch of girls!" The blonde burst out laughing, clutching his stomach with glee. Hinata and Mari whipped around to see said boy indeed running from a huge horde of girls, his scowl seeming to deepen every time one of them called out his name. Which was a lot. Which meant he was scowling a LOT. Mari wondered briefly whether his face would get stuck like that.

"Hm, that's right. He has some kind of fan club doesn't he?" the brunette mused, watching the scene unfold before them. The Uchiha seemed to be searching frantically for a place to hide or something as the girls "Kyahed" and squealed like little pigs.

Naruto grinned widely at his friend.

"See? That's one of the reasons I like you guys so much. You're the only girls in the whole school that don't trip over that teme twenty four-seven. What do they see in him anyway?"

Mari just shrugged and Hinata shook her head unknowingly.

"I wouldn't understand things like that. I'm more preoccupied with being the best ninja I can be than being the fan-girl of some guy that I barely know. Anyways, what happened when the door opened?" Mari switched back to the previous conversation, successfully distracting her two best friends from the pathetic scene behind them.

"Oh yeah, well I was just about to escape when the door slammed open and set off all of the egg bombs. Turns out it was Mizuki-sensei." The blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. Hinata tried to hide her giggles and Mari snickered loudly.

* * *

Everyone rushed out the doors as soon as the bell rang signaling the end of the school day. Everyone but a certain brunette girl who took her time strolling to her destination: the training grounds. She wished Hinata could come today too, seeing as she would at least have someone to spar with while waiting for her dad.

The sun beat down on her back with a slow, steady intensity, the near uncomfortable warmth interrupted only by a light breeze that flowed across her skin like cool silk, and the occasional shadow of the buildings that surrounded her.

Konoha's streets were busy at this time of day, bustling full of people going to and fro. Some headed home, some shopping, others still working in various stalls and shops.

Konoha really was a beautiful place, full of the sights, sounds, and smells of everything Mari believed a home should have. Konoha was indeed her home and she knew it always would be. She really wouldn't have it any other way.

Soon enough the crowds began to thin and the young Hatake found herself gliding more easily through the streets, thankful to have made it past rush hour. Within minutes she started down the path towards the training grounds, taking a smaller path towards the one at which she was to meet her father that day: Training grounds five.

This particular training ground was one of Mari's favorite as it varied greatly in terrain. A small stream with a stony bank ran through a large area of trees which eventually thinned out into a clearing. The clearing itself mainly consisted of grass and the occasional boulder, but near the southwestern edge the grass gave way to loose dirt and sand which then blended back into more forest.

With a small sigh, Mari began to stretch in preparation of the training that was to come.

* * *

"Yo."

"Hiya."

Kakashi chuckled. Truthfully his daughter was the only person who never got angry at him for always being late.

"Ready?"

"Whenever you are Tou-san."

With that the training began.

"No fair!" Mari cried out as she realized she had only hit a log. Her dad had used a replacement technique at the last second, likely trying to change things up a bit.

They had been training for about three hours now but the only one who showed signs of any work at all was Mari who was covered in sweat and a thin layer of dust than had been kicked into the air during one of their spars.

Mari quickly ducked, followed by a jump as Kakashi first sent a punch to the back of her head and followed up with an attempt at sweeping her feet from beneath her. Of course he could end the spar at any moment, seeing as he was a Jounin and she was merely an academy student, but he was going easy on her for the sake of her actually being able to improve instead of loosing all the time.

"You're open," the silver-haired man stated lethargically, sending a kick to her side and being sure to not hurt her too much. It wouldn't help any if she was unable to fight back.

The brunette struggled to block it, sliding back in the grass from the effort and going on defensive once more.

"Keep your head up," her dad advised as he sent a barrage of kicks and punches towards her. The girl did as he said, blocking a little more effectively than before now that she had a wider range of vision.

Though she had attended the academy from the age of six and learned all her classmates had, Mari was always proud to be one of the top in the class due to her father's training. If it wasn't for him, she would likely still be wandering out in the forest… or maybe even dead. He had taken her under his wing straight away and from the moment he learned she wanted to be a ninja like him he had whole-heartedly supported it, offering to train her when he wasn't on missions and when they weren't doing something else, like random family bonding through cooking, tickle wars, shopping, avoiding Might Gai, or anything else that came up.

One thing was for sure, Mari took her training very seriously. No one had ever heard her utter a single complaint over the years. She was a diligent student who took all instruction seriously, though usually not to heart. She could list every tip, pointer, and correction that her father and teachers had ever made over the course of the years.

As Kakashi once more advanced, Mari slid her right leg back, diagonally to her right and braced most of her weight on the back leg as she moved with his kick and blocked it efficiently, being sure to keep her head up and arms shoulder width apart. She twisted past his fist and pushed it aside only to have her feet swept from under her while she was distracted. She rolled with the fall and bounced back up; blinking the sweat that dripped in her eyes from her soaking bangs, ready for more…only to find her dad had disappeared.

On instinct she cart-wheeled forward and spun around just as Kakashi sent a renewed barrage of attacks her way.

"Good," he commented, taking note of her reflexes.

"Don't let the enemy get behind you, right?" She clarified, ducking a punch and kicking the bushin that had tried sneaking up behind her. Her dad merely chuckled. Mari smiled tiredly, proud at having remembered and applied that concept.

Five minutes later they stopped, Mari collapsing gratefully on the soft grass and panting heavily. Her dad's shadow hovered above her, blocking out the sun (it was about five thirty by the looks of it). She grinned up at him, her eyes curving closed in the way his usually did, causing the Jounin to marvel at how much she had picked up on the smallest bits of his behavior while growing up. If it wasn't for her hair and eyes, people would probably mistake them for being blood-related.

"How about take-out tonight? I doubt either of us is in the mood to cook," he suggested with an eye-smile of his own.

Mari nodded quickly, blue eyes sparkling in agreement. "Sounds like a plan."

They could be seen fifteen minutes later headed back from Mari's favorite restaurant, Ryu no Sachi (A/N: I tried my best to translate this, sorry if it's incorrect. It means Dragon of Fortune which is close my favorite restaurant: Fortune Dragon :D), where they picked up some rice, dumplings, and miso soup before heading back home.


	4. Music, Missions, and Guys Named Kyo

Chapter Four

It was about four in the afternoon about two weeks later when a new song could be heard drifting from the young Hatake's open door and through the house. The familiar buzz of the electric guitar reached Kakashi's ears in an unfamiliar tune that he supposed was one of her newest compositions. He could hear her murmuring words to herself, occasionally stopping for a few moments before trying something new, and likely modifying the lyrics to her liking.

With a small smile, he turned back to his little orange book, giggling at something he read just as someone knocked on the front door.

With an annoyed sigh at being disturbed he moved off of the couch to go answer it, revealing the caller to be an ANBU member.

"The Hokage wishes to see you in her office for a new mission." Before the Jounin could blink the ninja shunshinned away, leaving behind a slowly dispersing puff of smoke.

Kakashi sighed before heading up to his daughters' room, lightly wrapping his knuckles on the doorway to get her attention. She was currently strumming her guitar as she gazed down at a piece of sheet music on her bed, wearing dark green sweatpants and a black spaghetti-strap top, what she called her "Lazy Outfit". She looked up when she heard the knock and smiled.

"Another mission?"

The Jounin nodded.

"I'm not sure how long it will be yet. I'm going to head out to the Hokage's office."

She nodded understandingly, leaping up from her spot on her bed to give him a hug.

"Be careful okay?"

Her dad chuckled and hugged her back.

"I promise."

The two broke apart and Kakashi ruffled her hair, making it stick up all over the place.

"Hey! Otou! What was that for?" he laughed as she stuck her tongue out at him, ducking easily as she attempted to jump and mess up his hair too. She gave an annoyed huff, obviously trying to hold off a small smile.

"I'll see you later then," he waved as he began walking down the hallway. He paused for a moment before turning back to her. "Oh, and don't burn the house down while I'm gone."

He chuckled to himself once more as his daughter yelled indignant protests at his retreating back.

Now for the mission.

* * *

The next day was a Monday and it was seven days until Mari's birthday not including today. Her dad was still off on his mission to apprehend some thugs threatening a family a couple villages over and wasn't expected back until late this evening or tomorrow morning. With that in mind, Mari lethargically made her way to the Academy, walking the near empty streets calmly. She breathed in the fresh morning air gratefully, knowing she would get there far earlier today than usual. She usually did when her dad was off on missions, the house felt too empty without him there to tease her.

_SSShhhkkk. _The door to the classroom slid open to reveal only the dark haired boy she realized was Uchiha Sasuke, sitting down at one of the desks. Not even Iruka-sensei was there yet. She shrugged and glided soundlessly over to her seat before pulling out her notebook and beginning to doodle around the latest song she had written. She was bored already but it was better than staying in the house with no one there.

Only the sounds of her pencil scratching lightly against the paper invaded the peaceful silence of the classroom. Just as she was shading in a feather she noticed a steady stare burning into the side of her head from across the room. She glanced up to see the Uchiha looking right at her, his smoldering onyx eyes blankly observing. She mentally shrugged it off and continued to draw, hoping if she ignored him he would stop.

He didn't.

"It's rude to stare you know." Her quite voice sounded clearly in the silence, apparently breaking the top student from his thoughts. He turned away from her in favor of staring out the window.

Well, really it was more like glaring. She noticed he seemed to do that a lot, but whatever.

_Click, click._ _SSShhhkkk._

Mari glanced up at the sound to see the Uchiha standing by the classroom door. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes before walking out, closing the door behind him.

…

"Okay then." She raised a single eyebrow at the door before turning back to her music and drawings, humming the tune to herself now that no one was in the room with her to bother.

* * *

"You're here awfully early today Mari," Iruka-sensei commented. The younger brunette sighed.

"My dad's on a mission. I had nothing better to do really." Her sensei nodded understandingly, setting a stack of papers on his desk as a few more students started to trickle into the classroom. Still no sign of the anti-social Uchiha. What was with that kid anyway?

"Hey, Hatake! You're actually early for once huh?" Kiba's voice called out to the girl. It didn't exactly sound mean but he was obviously poking fun at her. "Haven't gotten lost on that stupid path of life or anything again?"

"At least I have a life, Inuzuka," She stated coolly, not bothering to spare him a glance. A few of her classmates laughed much to the dog-lover's annoyance.

"Hey, I do too have a life!" He argued in vain. Mari just ignored him as Shikamaru walked in to sit beside her in exact middle of the room.

"Hey Nara," she greeted him with a sigh. He nodded to her lethargically, slumping forward and crossed his arms on the desk.

"Ignore Kiba, he's just being troublesome because he tried hitting on some non-academy girl the other day and she turned him down."

"Bummer," she replied with a sarcastic smirk.

The two sat in a comfortable silence as everyone took their seats. Kiba sat in the row in front of them with Hinata who exchanged cheerful greetings with Mari. Sasuke – who had somehow snuck back into the classroom without Mari noticing – was sitting in his usual spot by the window, trying to ignore a horde of fan-girls fighting over who got to sit next to him. Within this group of girls stood her more popular classmates, Ino and Sakura, who honestly had more of a chance of sitting in that seat than the others did. Not because the Uchiha liked them, but because they were practically the leaders of the Uchiha's fan club and would fight to sit there until one of them ended up in the seat, whether the Uchiha liked it or not.

Shino, a quiet boy Mari knew to be of the Aburame clan, sat in the row behind them with a chubby boy by the name of Akimichi Choji, whose clan required a good amount of weight to be present for the use of their bloodline trait. They were both always polite to her, Choji even occasionally hung out with her, though it was mainly a friendship started from their shared companionship with the lazy Nara Shikamaru. The only person that had yet to arrive, once again, was Naruto.

The oddly mushroom shaped cloud of a sigh that escaped Mari's mouth was enough to catch Shikamaru's attention.

"He'll be back before you know it. Just relax, he can take care of himself," the boy offered. To anyone listening he would have sounded like he didn't really care, but Mari knew better. "So troublesome…," even if he did say that all the time.

Mari smiled slightly, light pink lips turning up at the corners just enough to show the appreciation she had for those words. The dark-haired boy laid his head on his arms, likely to fall to sleep. It really did amaze her how he kept up his grades when he never paid any attention.

* * *

"NA-RU-TO!"

Iruka-sensei all but threw the orange-clad boy into the room seconds before the bell rang. Within seconds he and Naruto were standing at the front of the class, the later being chastised harshly by the former.

"Why would you do that?" Iruka-sensei was saying. "Those kids will be scratching for a week!"

"But I-,"

"No 'buts' about it Naruto. You've got detention during lunch and after school writing apology letters to each and every one of them, _and_ their parents!"

The blonde growled in annoyance and pouted, but kept his mouth shut, probably a smart move considering Iruka-sensei looked like an inflated balloon.

Mari figured he had done something with itching powder involved due to the reference to scratching that Iruka-sensei made. Naruto was sure to get hell from the victims parents.

* * *

A small sigh escaped Hinata's mouth as the two friends walked to the training grounds, looking rather sad. The reason for this was, unknown to Mari, a fight between her father and her the night before.

Hinata had always confided in her friend about her family life, often escaping to her house for a day of girl talk, ice cream, and any distracting activity Mari could think of. The brunette had always been so kind, befriending her, comforting her, even helping her train to impress her father. But the fight still had her thoroughly shaken and she couldn't help but feel like she wasn't quite ready to talk about it. It had never taken her this long before…

"Hey Hinata?" The lavender-eyed girl looked to her friend. Mari looked calm, even a bit amused if it weren't for her eyes whose deep blue depths held an understanding and acceptance that she had only seldom seen others' hold. A small smile was on her face, giving a glimpse of her carefree attitude.

"I can tell something's bothering you. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. Just try to look on the bright side of things okay? Oh- hey look! Squirrel!" the girl spazzed as she ran comically after the fuzzy creature that had captured her attention. Hinata welcomed the distraction and ran after her friend; smile lighting up her face as she strove to live in the moment like her two idols seemed to so easily do.

* * *

"Left! Right! Left! Right! Left! Right! Common Hinata! Only twenty left!" Mari pressed her friend.

The two were finishing up what Mari called the "warm-up drills." It consisted of the regular stretches, 100 sit-ups, push-ups, and varying kick and punch drills that were aimed at training posts.

Both girls then reviewed their taijutsu lessons from the week next, practicing new moves on each other and helping one another when they noticed a mistake. This was normally what training sessions consisted of when they were together, aside from the occasional spar. They never really focused on ninjutsu or genjutsu, seeing as they just knew the basics anyway. They still had yet to learn those even, not even having started actually performing genjutsu due to how early in the year it still was. School had pretty much just started after all.

The two of them had been practicing for about two and a half hours by the time they moved on to target practice.

"Hey Hinata?"

"Hm?" The lavender-eyed girl's kunai hit the second ring closest to the bulls-eye.

"Who's that guy watching us over there?"

Startled, Hinata completely missed her target, her kunai flying of into the trees somewhere.

"W-what?"

"Yeah, there's this guy – wait! He's coming over here!"

Hinata spun on her heels and spotted him right away. It was kind of hard not to what with his neon-green tipped black hair and dark, bad boy-like style of clothing. He had on baggy black shorts with chains hanging from the pockets. A black, ripped band tee covered his torso, displaying bright neon colors that advertised a band Mari had never heard of. He wore black ninja boots – though he was clearly a normal citizen – and a studded belt and arm bands. Silver studs in his nose and along his ears completed the look. When he finally got within hearing distance he got straight to the point.

"Is one of you Hatake Mari?"

The two shared a look.

"I am," Mari replied warily, sizing the boy up from beneath her thick eyelashes. He looked to be their age, but definitely not a ninja. His chakra was rough and inexperienced and he didn't really have the fit body of one either, though he wasn't exactly out of shape.

"I hear you play the guitar? And you sing?"

Mari's face went blank as soon as these words slipped from his mouth. Just who was this guy and how did he know about her?

Seeing that she wasn't going to answer the boy elaborated.

"My name is Kusonukina Kyo. My friends and I are part of a band and we've got a problem. We were wondering if you'd be interested in helping."

"How do you know me?" The tone in her voice implied that if he didn't answer correctly the result would be very bad for him. Her rather shy-looking friend watched the two curiously. The boy gulped, turning a bit pale.

"Eh? Some guy told me about you, said you might like to try out. You know, 'cause we don't let just anyone into our band."

"Guy? What guy?"

"Uh, really tall, silver hair, kept his face covered. He somehow found out that our lead singer and guitarist moved and figured we'd need a replacement. We do actually. No one we've come across had enough talent. We need someone who already knows their stuff." His dark green eyes flitted from side-to-side nervously. He wasn't so hot with the idea of some crazy ninja chick blowing up on him.

His worries for his health were needless though, because a second later the brunette broke out into a pretty grin, striding up to him calmly as though the tension between them had never existed.

"Sorry 'bout that. Let's start over. The name's Hatake Mari," she held out her hand and Kyo smiled, taking it.

"Kusonukina Kyo."


	5. Aw! You Shouldn't Have!

Chapter Five

This was it. It was the day. Finally!

It was her birthday.

Mari threw the covers off herself in a rushed frenzy, excited to get downstairs where her dad likely already was. She went through all the morning routines and flew down the steps three at a time. Luckily her birthday was on a Sunday, so there was no school and plenty of time to enjoy the joys of turning eleven.

"Morning sleepy head. I thought you were never going to get up," her dad teased as soon as he noticed her leaping down the stairs. The smell of eggs and bacon wafted across the living room from the kitchen, making her mouth water as she grinned back at her dad who just shook his head fondly at her.

Then she looked at the clock.

"Wow."

"That's an understatement."

"Aw, roar. You can't blame me! You had me training all night," she pointed out, still staring at the hour hand which was stealthily twitching its way toward the bold number 2 on the clock.

"If I remember correctly, _you_ were the one who begged me to train with you," He countered, not missing a beat.

She just smiled and shrugged.

"Yeah, but I'm the birthday girl so you gotta treat me nice." She stuck out her tongue childishly to put emphasis on her words.

"That's right," He murmured loud enough for her to hear, putting on a show as though he had forgotten. "How old are you turning again? Seven?"

"Eleven, Tou-san!" She gasped at his pretend guess.

"Sure, sure, that would explain your amazing display of maturity just now," he chuckled, turning to walk into the kitchen, looking back at her over his shoulder to make sure she was following. He was tackled before he could do so, Mari's arms wrapped around his waist in a tight hug, laughing when she noticed she had managed to surprise him.

He twisted around just enough to muss up her hair before they walked into the kitchen.

The scent of eggs and bacon attacked her senses with renewed strength, making her stomach growl. There was a downside to sleeping in after all – no breakfast. Within moments she was at the counter, plate in hand, already dishing out a large serving of eggs and swiping some tofu bacon from the still hot and sizzling pan. Her dad just watched, amused, as she stuffed her face greedily, throwing mannerisms to the wind in light of her empty stomach.

"So what have we got planned for today?" The brunette asked, finally having taken the time to breathe between bites. Kakashi shrugged as he fixed his own plate of the protein-filled breakfast foods.

"Kyo stopped by earlier this morning. He wanted to know if you'd be up to practicing later."

"Heck yeah!" Kyo was the boy Mari had met only a week ago. When he had asked her to join his band, having heard from her dad about her musical abilities, Mari had been overjoyed. Over the last week the band had been getting to know each other. With Mari taking over as the lead singer (since theirs had moved to another village) it brought the band members up to a total of five.

Kyo was like the leader of the band. He was a fellow guitar player who preferred bass to acoustic or electric. Despite not being ninja (and Mari was indeed the only one out of the five who had chosen that profession) he had amazing leadership skills and always seemed to know what to do. He was the closest to Mari out of the others due to having met her first. He was also a singer, but seeing as their lead had been a girl, he couldn't pull off half of the things they needed. (A/N I really don't feel like describing his appearance again so you'll have to refer to the previous chapter if you want the whole description. I'm lazy, I know.)

The drummer of the band was a girl just a year younger than Kyo and Mari named Saya. She was pretty with bright, sky blue eyes and shoulder-length messy blonde hair. She always wore bright colors, mainly consisting of white, yellow, and pink. Over all she was really cheerful and had this adorably innocent air about everything she did. Not to mention she looked like she was _five_. Short was an understatement when it came to her, but she seemed pretty proud about it. She was like Kyo's younger sister from what Mari gathered by watching the two interact this past week.

Tatsuyoshi, or just Tatsu (as he preferred to be called), was their keyboardist. He was pretty cool, literally. His hair was an icy blue – almost white. His eyes were a really awesome indigo – a trait he said came from his grandma on his mom's side. He was a bit of a flirt but otherwise he was really great to hang out with. Not to mention he was teaching her a few songs on the keyboard that he came up with. Turns out the two of them were the composers of the band and he was pretty good. So far Mari had learned about three of their songs and they'd learned one of hers.

The last member of the band was a guitarist named Ishio. He was really tall and muscled at the age of fourteen. He also just so happened to be Saya's older brother. He had bark brown hair, but the same twinkling blue eyes. Because of his size Mari was inclined to disbelieve him when he said he wasn't a ninja. It was obvious just by looking at him that he was _all muscle_. Then again, citizens didn't have to be ninja to work out. But get this: Ishio wanted to be a chef. And sure, she could see it and all but he not only wanted to be a chef, but a _pastry _chef. It kinda struck her as funny, because he looks really intimidating (not that she'd let him know that) and is seriously introverted. He didn't talk much but he was good natured despite his… misleading looks.

So that was their band.

Oh, what about the band's name? Well, that was cool in itself.

They were called the Fighting Dreamers.

Awesome, no?

Yeah, and they even had their own signature song. Mari sang backup on it since it was more or less for a guy's voice, but she also got to roam around the stage throughout the whole thing, just her and her beloved electric guitar. How she loved it so!

* * *

It was about three in the afternoon when Mari could be found walking through the busy streets of Konoha. She occasionally stopped to talk to shop owners or classmates along the way; all the time headed towards the band's usual designated practice spot.

The band always met at Ishio and Saya's house as they had a large, soundproof garage that made practicing easier and less disruptive to their parents. It was on the other side of the park from where Mari lived with her dad so it was a pretty long walk but it was always well worth it in the end. She couldn't think of better way to spend her birthday than with her friends. She was planning on stopping by Naruto and Hinata's places too. Come to think of it… neither of them had even mentioned her birthday as of late. Had they forgotten? Well, Naruto _was_ pretty forgetful, and Hinata's dad was taking up a lot of her time…

But still, why hadn't they at least…oh well, it didn't really matter anyway.

With a sigh Mari turned off the path that wound through the park to walk down the road that would lead her destination. Only a minute had passed when Kyo came swinging around the corner with a giant grin on his face and…what? Why was he holding a blindfold?

"Ah! There you are!" He finally noticed her. She rose a delicate eyebrow in question at his statement. Had he be looking for her?

"Here, put this on. We've got a surprise for you." He held out the black cloth.

Mari eyed the offending article and gave him a look.

"You're kidding right?"

He laughed sheepishly, as always pretty intimidated by her ninja-in-training status.

"Ah, not really. Come on! Just do it!" He all but shoved the cloth in her hands.

"Or what?" The corner of her mouth lifted in a teasing smirk.

"Or… I'll get Ishio to do it for you."

Mari let out a choked sound as she fought between laughing and groaning. Kyo knew her too well. He knew she wouldn't put up a fight against the giant teddy bear known as Ishio.

"Fine."

When the cloth was tied securely over her eyes Kyo led her by the arm down the street and around the corner.

Something wasn't right.

It was quiet…

Mari couldn't pinpoint what it was that was making everything so… soundless. It was like someone had put a heavy cloth over a jack-in-the-box. The suspense over what might happen was eating her alive.

What was so amazing that Kyo needed to blindfold her first anyway?

"Alright, you can take of the blindfold now."

"I'm not sure that I want to. What if you got some basilisk that would kill me with it's gaze as soon as I took it off?"

"Aw, come on! I'm not that mean!"

"I wouldn't put it past you though," she snickered as she reached up to undo the blindfold.

As soon as the cloth fell away from her eyes she nearly had a heart attack.

"_**SURPRISE!"**_

"HOLY FUZZ-MUFFINS ON STERIODS!"

...

"What?"

Everyone in front of her sweatdropped.

"Eheheheh…oh."

Naruto grinned.

"Happy birthday Mari!" Everyone continued the chorus, bringing a smile to the brunette's face.

"Aw! You shouldn't have!"

Kyo decided to speak up. "To bad, we already did."


	6. Gifts, Games, and Bonding

**_A/N: So here's the second chappie as promised! Review please! ^.^ The more reviews, the faster I update!_**

Chapter Six

"Mari-chan~!" The brunette turned just in time to catch the small blonde who had launched herself at her friend and swing her around.

"Saya!" Mari called back teasingly as she set the girl down. The blonde turned to grin over at her brother as he walked over and lifted her onto his shoulders. She really was tiny for a nine-year-old.

Saya and Ishio lived in a relatively large house with their parents who were both successful writers. Their house was large and white with two stories and an attic that had a bunch of awesome junk from old relatives stuffed inside. They had a pretty big backyard full of trees and tons of playing space.

The Chiba house was completely decked out in birthday decorations, from streamers to banners, to balloons and paper lanterns with the birthday greeting printed across them. Everyone was standing out in the backyard (where Kyo had led Mari). A refreshment table was set up on the wraparound porch and was loaded with chips, sodas, sushi and sushi rolls, yakitori, sweet rice balls, cucumber rolls, potato korokke, and more.

There were nearly two dozen people that came to celebrate her birthday. Everyone in her band was there as were Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, Gai, – wait a second… WHAT?

"Oh how youthful! What a youthful surprise party full of youthful people! Except for my hip rival of course." Gai announced as he ran up to Mari. Said girl sweatdropped as gloom-lines drooped heavily in the air above her head like rainclouds. "I am proud to say that in the name of youth, I have convinced my new, youthful team to participate in this youthful event! Little Mari-chan, these are my youthful students who are just beginning to learn the true power of youth!"

Before Mari could register what was happening she was being scooped up into a bone-crushing hug of doom, her air supply being cut off almost immediately. But when she looked around for help, she realized that Gai wasn't the one instigating her current near-death experience. That was when she finally noticed the _very_ loud, _very _enthusiastic voice ringing in her ears.

"It is such an honor to finally meet the daughter of my sensei's rival! We have heard so much about you!"

"LEE! Put her down! She can't breathe!"

With that, said rival's daughter dropped to the ground, sucking in much needed air.

"Gai, I would prefer it if you had your…_student_ refrain from suffocating my daughter," Kakashi's familiar voice sounded in boredom.

WHERE WAS HE _WHILE_ SHE WAS SUFFOCATING?

Finally regaining the proper shade her skin was supposed to be (namely _not_ blue), Mari finally looked up to see what caused her dad to be so hesitant in referring to the "Lee" guy as being his "rival's" student.

'_What. The. Hell?"_

"OH MY KAMI, THERE ARE _TWO_ OF YOU!"

Her moment of panic was easily justified, as standing before her was yet another Might Guy. Only this one was shorter, had bigger eyes, and- '_How the hell can eyebrows get any BUSHIER!'_

Both were wearing bright green, full-body spandex suits and orange leg and arm warmers. Both had identical shiny black bowl cuts (how _did _they get their hair that shiny? She _had_ to know their secret). Both had the same blindingly white teeth. Both had the same "Good Guy Pose" which they were currently flashing at her father.

"Not to worry my hip rival! She will be okay! LEE! GO APOLOGISE!"

"Yes Gai-sensei!"

Before Lee could get within five feet of her, Mari jumped up and smoothly slid behind another girl who was standing close by.

"Ah, you don't mind if I hide here do you?"

She smiled and giggled slightly.

"Not at all. By the way, my name is Tenten. You're Mari, right?"

Mari nodded.

"Well Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks!" She grinned.

Tenten was very pretty with soft, mousy brown hair up in two little buns (it kind of reminded Mari of panda bear ears only brown), and warm brown eyes. Her bangs hung over her hatai-ate and in her eyes a bit, but unlike Mari's were parted slightly. She wore a cute, light pink, sleeveless Chinese-style top with gold clasps and dark blue Shinobi pants. Her kunai pouch was tied to her right leg and she wore dark blue Shinobi sandals.

"Hn."

"…Neji?"

Said boy quite obviously resisted the urge to scowl at her as she peered over her new friends' shoulder.

Hyuuga Neji was cousin to Hyuuga Hinata and was a member of the branch family. Because of this he always resented Hinata and called her weak. He had a rather unhealthy obsession with the concept of "fate" and was convinced that once someone proved to be either a "genius" or a "looser" in his book, they could never change. Mari had a feeling that the only reason he never messed with her was because the first time they met she had been practicing the only earth jutsu she knew as of yet: Stone Fist no Jutsu. Because she had only been nine at the time and wasn't even supposed to know any elemental jutsus, she was marked down in his genius book. He still didn't like the fact that she "wasted her time" on a "looser" like Hinata and she didn't like him because she thought he was a jerk. She was nice to him only when she figured he deserved it. Nice wasn't exactly his forte though.

"Hatake."

"… You're on Gai's team?"

"…hn."

"Psh…" she bit her lip to hold in her laughter but a small giggle escaped her. He scowled and she just let it all out.

"AHAHAHA! Oh man! What I would pay to see you in one of those jumpsuits!"

Even Tenten couldn't help but laugh at that and Neji's scowl only deepened.

"Mari, who are these crazies?"

"Ahem," Tenten coughed, giving the blonde boy who walked up to them a stern stare.

"Ano, except for you!" Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Ah," Mari began. "My dad's 'rival' and his ninja team."

"Your dad? Who's that?"

Everyone with a five foot radius face-palmed but Mari was too distracted to respond.

"OI! Shikamaru! You owe me a rematch!"

"How troublesome…"

"Mari-chan!" The brunette looked up at Saya who was still sitting atop Ishio's shoulders, messing with his already messed up hair.

"Yeah?"

"Before you play Shogi, do you wanna play Kakurenbo? Please~?"

No one could ever resist her puppy pout. _No one. _Looks like the rematch would have to wait.

"Alright! Hey guys, who's up for a game of Kakurenbo?"

A chorus of cheers went up and all of the kids ran off to play the all famous hide-and-go-seek.

* * *

The adults decided to stay behind near the refreshments and talk for a while.

"Kakashi, it's been a while," Iruka greeted the silver-haired Jounin. As Mari's academy teacher over the years he had grown close to her and Naruto. She insisted on helping to get Naruto out of his messes a lot of the time by serving detention with him after school, so naturally he had gotten to spend a lot of time with the two of them.

"Indeed it has," Kakashi returned with a smile that showed in the way his visible eye curved upwards.

"That little girl sure is a joy to have around." This time the one to speak up was an elderly woman.

"And one of our best customers," an old man added, only to be chastised by the woman.

These two were Naoki Kuzomara and his wife Hana Kuzomara, the owners of the Ryu no Sachi restaurant. Both were close family friends due to Mari's obsession with their dumplings and tenpura and…well really their food in general. They had met Kakashi and Mari one day when the two had randomly stopped in for lunch. From there a friendship had grown between the four that made them like family.

"I'm so glad she's made so many friends," Hana smiled kindly.

"Well that wasn't much of a problem for her. She's pretty outgoing. I think I saw her already talking to Hinata within the first fifteen minutes of her coronation. Hinata's pretty shy and hard to get out of her shell, so she's done well."

"How do you do it?" Hana asked Kakashi.

"Do what?"

"How is it that a single man can adopt a little girl and have her turn out so well? I've never seen anything like it. You are a wonderful father to her Kakashi, she looks up to you so much."

Kakashi just smiled at her.

"Would anyone like some Green Tea Pound Cake? Fresh out of the oven," Mrs. Chiba asked as she set a plate of small cake slices on the refreshment table. Everyone crowded around to get a taste and the conversation started up again on a different topic. **(A/N: This cake is much like Pumpkin Bread in the sense that it is more of a bread/cake hybrid than one or the other, so no, it isn't her birthday cake ^.^)**

"Suzume-san, I hear your son is part of a band? And that he convinced Mari to be the new lead singer?" Hana asked politely as she waited her turn to get a piece of the warm cake.

"Yes, he has." Suzume (who insisted everyone she met to call her by her first name) was mother to Kyo and his little sister Yuuki. She was a beautiful woman with wavy black hair and emerald green eyes. To her hip she held an adorable two-year-old baby: Yuuki. Her darkening tuft of hair and silvery-grey eyes made her look absolutely endearing. "He almost had a heart attack when he heard from Jin (the old lead singer) that she was moving until Hatake-san came across one of his posters and met up with him. The poor boy is more dedicated to music than he is to staying alive. I can't recall how many times he's missed out on meals just working on his guitar or getting gigs for the band."

"Well if he ever needs a place to play some music, we'd greatly appreciate his band playing at our restaurant. It would benefit the both of us I think."

"Thank you. I'll tell him the news later. I'm sure he'll be grateful for the offer."

* * *

"I WIN! I WIN! I WIN, I WIN, I WIIIIINNNNN!" Saya's cries of joy rang through the air as she tagged the last person left.

"Psst, Mari-chan!"

"Eh? Yeah Naru-kun?"

"How is it a five-year-old kid can beat ninjas in a game of tag?"

Mari smiled, though now that he mentioned it, she had absolutely no idea either.

"No clue, Naru. Absolutely no clue."

She figured he wouldn't believe that Saya was actually nine if the Fourth Hokage told him himself. She was _that_ short and chibi-looking.

"What an amazing display of youth!" Lee began to rant.

"Hey Lee!" Tenten called quickly. "If you can tag that squirrel in the fourth tree on your right over there then you'll be the best Genin on our team!"

"Yosh! Okay Tenten-chan!" He raced off in a cloud of smoke before anyone had a chance to blink.

"…Tenten… you do know that there's no squirrel, right?" Mari sweatdropped.

"Yes, why yes I do."

Neji smirked, which was pretty much as close to a smile as physically possible for him.

"How troublesome. We were all beaten by a civilian," Shikamaru mumbled.

"Yes, and now you shall be beaten by me in a game of Shogi!" Without further ado Mari grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him back in the direction of the adults where there were a few smaller tables set up for eating at later.

Ishio was kind enough to lend them his board and pieces and sat down to watch while everyone else chatted, ate, and played games. Just as they finished setting up, Neji joined them, a stolid expression on his face as always.

"First move?" Shikamaru sighed.

"You can."

And with that the game began.

* * *

"Present time!"

"REALLY! YESSS!"

Everyone laughed (minus Neji of course) as Mari ran over to the table where multiple gifts were lined up with a radiant smile on her face.

So far this had been the best birthday party she'd ever had. She had made new friends, played games, eaten some of her favorite foods, and just overall joked around and had a good time. She knew, however, that the two best parts had yet to come: Gifts, and then the cake!

Once everyone had crowded around and sang happy birthday, Mari reached for the first gift.

_To: Mari_

_From: Saya and Ishio_

The box was small and lightweight and wrapped neatly in green and gold plaid wrapping paper. Hastily she ripped off the paper and opened the box.

Inside was a necklace with matching earrings. The necklace was a fine silver chain on which hung a beautiful, glass guitar pick. The ornament in itself was a breathtaking blue that shimmered in the light. In the front, carved in gold letters was the word "forever." The earrings matched the necklace and on each one were the words "best" and "friends."

"They're beautiful!" The brunette gasped in awe as she held it up for everyone to see. Her blue eyes sparkled just as much as her gifts. "Thank you!"

Ishio grunted though a hint of a smile shown in his eyes while Saya beamed proudly.

Next was a gift from Naruto and Mari had to laugh happily when she opened it.

It was a whole book full of Ichiraku's Ramen Bar coupons.

"Aw! Thanks Naru-kun! We should hang out and use these sometime, ne?"

Naruto let out a loud whoop and his infamous catch phrase "Dattebayo!"

"AW! Tatsu! You didn't forget about me!"

Tatsu was a huge flirt, sure, but he was also the kind of guy that had to really like you (friend-wise) to bother doing much for you. He was almost like Kiba in the sense that he pretty much thought he was the coolest thing since sliced bread but he had his sensitive moments, something which Mari had yet to witness when it came to the stuck-up Inuzuka.

"Ah, don't think much of it, love." He used the nickname he had come up with after failing to get her to fall for his "amazing wit and charm." A small, self-satisfied smirk settled on his face when she opened his gift.

"YES! I've been needing some new music sheets forever! You're a life-saver!"

"Yeah, I know."

"And a narcissist."

"Yup – HEY!" His indignant yell caused everyone to laugh.

Mari stuck her tongue out and pulled her bottom eyelid down teasingly. Tatsu rolled his unique indigo eyes and shook his head with a sigh, probably questioning why he bothered to get her anything.

"You know you love me."

"Of course, of course. Whatever you say, love."

"Open my gift next!" Kyo all but threw his gift into her lap. She just laughed and proceeded to do as he said.

"Oh! I love it Kyo! Thank you!"

It was a forest green hair clip in the shape of the treble clef. The edges were a shiny gold to match her outfit.

"I thought you might like it," he commented, proud of himself for having chosen something she liked.

Next was a gift from the Kuzomara's.

The moment the paper was ripped away, Mari's eyes flew wide in astonishment.

"No way!"

Hana giggled, as always being the more verbal out of the ancient couple.

"Yes way. You'd better put this to good use!"

"Don't worry, I will! You can count on it!"

In her hands was a box that contained a beautiful new Shogi set, complete with the board and pieces. It was made of a reflective silver material, the different spaces different shades of black, white, and grey. The pieces were either glass or jade. It must have been really expensive! She already knew she would use it as often as she could. As a matter of fact…

When Shikamaru saw the devilish grin on her face he didn't know whether or not to be afraid.

"You'll have the honors."

"Honors of what?" He asked warily, one eyebrow rising lazily in question.

"Being the first to play me, of course!"

"How troublesome."

Next she opened Hinata's gift which turned out to be a friendship bracelet and a small container of ointment for the injuries they both knew she always got when she was training. The girl got tackled in a hug for her thoughtfulness.

Mari then received a book on famous ninjutsus created in the past ten years from Iruka, and a jumbo bag of barbeque chips from Choji which she was touched by, seeing as he never shared his food with anyone.

The next gift was from Shikamaru and before anyone knew what had happened Mari had tackled said boy in a hug, talking a mile a minute about something that both had Shikamaru blushing (probably from the close and unexpected contact) and sighing at.

"OH! What is it Mari-chan!" Naruto asked, curious as ever, shifting the green goggles perched atop his head as was his habit.

"I got the third and last of the Pixie Pop manga series! I've been waiting for this to come out in stores for over a month!" It was pretty much lost on Naruto, who didn't really spend his time reading, but Tenten seemed to know what she was talking about.

"Really! Oh my gosh! Can I see it?" Mari ran over to the girl and the two started fawning over the cover, gossiping about a bunch of characters everyone else there was clueless about.

"Yeah, can you believe how evil Hiiragi is?"

"How dare she try to steal Amamiya-kun away from Maru!"

"Right? That stupid little stuffed elephant of hers is going down!"

"I can't believe Pamo-chan is so mean! He looked so cute at first!"

"Then again, Hiiragi seemed all nice until she announced she wanted to be Amamiya's bride."

"What's up with that anyway? They're only twelve!"

"I know right? But isn't it so awesome that Ryouta and Nazuna finally got together?"

"Oh my gosh! They make the cutest couple ever!"

"I know!"

"I was so happy when they won that pretend wedding!"

"Nazuna looked so beautiful in that dress! Not to mention Maru and Amamiya got to spend more time together!"

"_AHEM!"_

Both girls snapped their attention back to everyone else, having totally forgotten that anyone else was there.

"Eheheheh… gomen."

Iruka just shook his head knowingly with a wistful smile. Girls their age just loved those shojo manga.

"Here is my youthful gift! I hope that you use it often on your path towards youth!" Gai shoved a box into Mari's hands with a blinding smile. The brunette accepted it, trying not to act too worried about it's contents.

All it took was opening the box and Mari nearly dropped the box.

Inside…lay a bright green jumpsuit and orange leg and arm warmers.

…even Neji snorted.

"…ah, thank you Gai-san…for this…lovely gift." She shot a glare at the eldest Hyuuga present and he just looked back at her with an evilly smug smirk.

"I knew you would like it!"Gai cried out dramatically, tears already forming in his eyes. Before he could rant any further, however, Mari was saved by her dad.

"And last but not least, my gift." The silver-haired Jounin handed his gift over with a smile, his eye showing what his mask hid.

Mari opened the box…


	7. Washing Mountains

**A/N Dear wonderful, lovely, amazing...okay this is sounding a bit creepy...readers! You guys are absolutely awesome, you know that? I mean, here I am, being terrible about updating and you guys all send me amazing reviews and subscribe to my story and favorite me and everything! I have a good excuse though, as I've been freaking out about AP exams and I've been loaded down with tons of work, which is why this chapter is so short. But I've been trying to get as much done as possible. Nothing much happens here but a lot will happen in the next chapter which I hope to get up my this weekend.**

**Thanks to:**

**Beccalove94 for favoriting my story**

**.Blaze for favoriting me as a author**

**cocogirl198 for alerting my story**

**...and to respond to the lovely review I have that have made my day! ^^ Every day lolz:**

**BloodColoredRose: Thank you soooooooo much! Your reviews just made my life, seriously. I was skipping all over my house singing "I got a review~I got a review~ And it's totally awesome~!" and my parents were looking at me like I was insane...which I am but that's beside the point cause I could swear that even my dog looked at me funny. And as for what Kakashi gave her, well, you'll have to wait to find out! MWUAHAHAHAHA! O.O please don't kill me! You'll find out soon enough! I promise! Thanks for alerting and favoriting me as well. It makes me feel good knowing that you like my story enough to want updates! ^^**

**rekiandmari: You've reviewed since the beginning and I'd like to thank you for that! It's nice to know you think my writing is good! Even if you tell me every day, lolz. Even one word reviews make me happy, flames and all! *glomps* Thanks for the story alert! ^^**

**IllegalXLove: I love your penname, lolz. I hope you like the chapters to come! ^^ Thank you so much for the review and the author alert! I came home today, saw them, and started squealing like a little girl going "Another review! WOOT!~ This is the best week ever!"**

**I swear, all of you guys are awesome! And now that I've stalled you long enough -.-', please do continue to read! I'll be starting the next chapter tonight so it will be up as soon as possible!**

**~Love and Magical Chocolate Chip Cookies**

**-Mari**

Chapter Seven

_**THUD!**_

_SSShhhkkk – __**THUD!**_

"Ha-ha! There's no way we're gonna fail!" Mari exclaimed confidently to her lavender-eyed friend. The two girls were out in the training fields practicing shuriken throwing. Hinata had been improving greatly over the last year, working her hardest and this time getting better results.

"Y-yeah!" Hinata stammered with emotion. She still had that stuttering habit, was still unbelievably shy, and was still as kind-hearted and gentle as a lamb. Those were some of the things Mari liked about her friend. That and her unwavering determination to be her best, for her father, for Naruto, and most importantly for herself. The two had been best friends now for six years, from the day they met up until now. Kakashi, Mari's father, claimed they were thick as thieves, as one was rarely seen without the other nowadays. The two of them planned on being on the same team when they graduated in a week.

"How about we call it for a day, eh? I'm kind of hungry," suggested the ocean-eyed brunette. Over the last year she had gotten a bit taller, now around 5' 2" and her hair longer, now reaching a little ways past her waist. Her outfit was basically the same, only now she wore an elbow-length fishnet shirt instead of a long-sleeved one, and her lower arms were bandaged halfway, the bandages disappearing under her dark green, metal-plated fingerless gloves. Still the top female rookie in the class, (though Sakura was 1% higher than her when it came to written work, while she virtually dominated everything else) Mari had learned many jutsu that year. Her best subjects were senjutsu, ninjutsu, taijutsu, and ninpō taijutsu. She wasn't as good (though still above average) in genjutsu. She could detect weaker genjutsu fine, but creating them was more of a challenge for her.

"Okay, do y-you want some r-ra-ramen?"

"Sure! Let's go!"

_'Besides, it's likely Hinata wanted to go in case Naruto was there, stuffing his face with ramen again.'_ Mari could swear that was all he had ever eaten in his short, eleven years of life.

"SASUKE-KUN! ~ WHERE ARE YOU! YOU WERE HERE JUST A SECOND AGO!"

Mari sweatdropped as she glanced towards the source of the shouts. She really hated those stupid fan-girls. She wasn't jealous or anything, but she had this thing about girls that a) threw themselves at guys just for their looks, and b) let said guys control absolutely everything they did. They ate (or didn't eat) for him, dressed for him, fought for him, cried for him, waited for him, and damn, the only thing they never thought to do was train for him! Even she knew that the Uchiha wouldn't go out with a girl if she couldn't take care of herself! He wasn't one to associate with people he viewed as weaker than him. She would know.

She had actually known him once. It was nothing really special, just a period of time when they could be considered friends. They were seven when they met…

*Flashback*

_It had all started when-_

*Poof*

Mari's flashback was interrupted when someone suddenly grabbed her shoulder from behind. Her reflexes worked without her aid as she swiftly grabbed her attacker's arm and flipped him over her head from behind her. Unfortunately said person twisted in mid-air, landing on his feet and locking their arms so neither could do anything.

"Will you cut it out? They might hear!"

Oh. Well this was unexpected…

"Why the hell did you do that, Uchiha? You friggin' know I don't like it when people try to sneak up on me!"

"SSSHHHHH! Are you stupid or something? You guys walked right past my hiding place making so much noise a civilian could find you!"

_'Ah, so he's afraid the fan-girls will think we are him and that they might find him by finding us.'_

… Heh, the great Uchiha was hiding from a bunch of _girls._

"M-M-Mar-ri," oh how adorable Hinata's stutter could be around other people. She was so shy.

Hinata didn't need to ask her question, because Mari answered it with her lazy, easygoing smile – the one that reached her eyes.

"Alright Uchiha, we weren't looking for you so we weren't paying much attention. Happy? We'll just go now," The brunette drawled slowly, gently releasing herself from his iron grip. He let go.

"SASUKE-KUN! ~ IS THAT YOU?"

Sasuke seemed to grow paler than he already was.

"Damn it!"

"Language," Mari chastised in a sing-song voice.

"Dammatte yo!" ("Shut up!")

Mari frowned but shrugged it off.

"Eh, let's go Hinata. Our ramen awaits," she murmured light-heartedly. She had barely taken a step before she halted to glance at the Uchiha over her shoulder. He looked back, his eyes unreadable.

"Oh and, Uchiha?"

"Hn."

"You might want to find a better hiding place."

She chuckled as she watched him leap away.

* * *

It was exactly one day before the Academy exam. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Mari couldn't help but walk with a little bounce in her step. She was in such a good mood!

Everything had been amazing lately. The band had been raking in the fans as they gradually rose from garage band to big time teen band throughout the whole village. Mari had been continuously improving her skills, her dad was coming back from every single mission without a single scratch, and she and her dad had been able to hang out yesterday for hours, just talking, play-sparring, and enjoying each other's company as they read their respective books; Mari read her school books and various scrolls while Kakashi read his… erm… adult series. Even Naruto seemed to be chilling with his pranks! He hadn't pulled one prank the whole entire week!

Mari's head snapped around as a bright orange blur sped past her, her hair and clothes rustling in the breeze that was caused by his speed…

Eh… maybe she had thought that a little too soon.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"NA-RU-TO! GET BACK HERE!"

"YOU'VE CROSSED THE LINE THIS TIME NARUTO!"

Mari blinked slowly, dark brown bangs fluttering once again as two chuunin sped after the trouble-making blonde. Was he really doing this when it was only one day before the exams? She sighed wearily, eyes drooping slightly in disappointment.

"GIVE IT UP!" She could hear the blonde boy yell back at his pursuers as they sped farther and farther away, jumping from the streets, to the rooftops, to the streets again. "YOU'RE JUST BENT UP BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE THE GUTS TO DO WHAT I DO! DO YA? LOOSERS! WANNABES! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME! HAHAHAHAHA!"

'_Speaking of… what exactly __did__ he do this time?' _She thought as she turned to head towards the academy once more. That's when she noticed it.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me Naruto."

…How the hell hadn't she noticed it before?

* * *

Mari sighed, exchanging glances with her best friend as they watched their best male friend get chewed out by their sensei in front of the whole class.

_Again._

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto. You failed the graduation exam last time and the time before that." Iruka-sensei stood before everyone, looking down at Naruto disapprovingly, and hands firmly on his hips. Naruto squinted up at him stubbornly from his seat on the floor. He had been dumped there when Iruka had finally managed to drag him into the class, bound hands and feet and even arms to make sure the hooligan couldn't escape. "Tomorrow you've got another chance and you're messing up again!"

Naruto stuck his nose in the air contemptuously and turned from his teacher in a blatant show of disrespect. '_Wrong move.'_

"Because you missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the Transformation Jutsu!"

The whole class groaned, nearly everyone becoming collectively frustrated with the blonde, if some not downright angry.

Grudgingly everyone stood from their seats and trudged to the front of the class to form a line as Iruka untied Naruto and grabbed a clipboard and pen. Mari and Hinata got separated in the reluctant bustle but neither minded. It wouldn't take that long to finish this anyway. Mari ended up right behind the Uchiha and her mind flashed back to their encounter a few days ago. She smirked to herself at the memory.

Sakura, who was first in line, took initiative and stepped forward.

Haruno Sakura was a pretty girl with… well… sakura pink hair and vivid, leaf-green eyes. Her skin was a pale crème and her nose small, her face heart-shaped and framed by her long pink locks that were held back only with the help of a solitary headband. Her outfit consisted of a red, knee-length kunoichi dress that was bordered with thick white lines on the sleeves and along the bottom, bending to create what looked like circle designs on the front, back and sleeves. The dress was split up the sides all the way to her hips and underneath she wore dark blue Shinobi pants on which her weapons pouch was attached.

Mari might've been her friend… if the pink-haired fan-girl hadn't tried attacking her once for standing too close to "her" Sasuke when they were nine.

"Alright, Sakura here, let's do it! Transform!" She performed the jutsu and when the smoke cleared a nearly successfully duplicated Iruka stood before them. Their sensei marked something on his clip board.

"Good," was all he said.

Sakura squealed happily after changing back.

"Yeah! I did it! Sasuke, did you see that?" Mari rolled her eyes unnoticeably and let out a silent sigh. She really didn't like fan-girls. Annoying brats.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called, ignoring the one-sided conversation and silently prompting Sakura to go sit back down.

Sasuke stepped forward and wordlessly completed the jutsu. He received an approving nod, and having completed the jutsu perfectly he undid it and went to sit at his desk once more.

"Next, Hatake Mari."

Mari stepped forward, looking every bit as bored as if someone were making her sit around all day to babysit their pet rock. Frankly she thought this review was a joke.

After completing a perfect transformation, she took her seat once more, watching Naruto step forward. She grew a little annoyed at the shameful words of Shikamaru and Ino but ignored them to the best of her ability, if only because Shikamaru was her friend. Ino could go jump in a well for all she cared.

"Next, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto stepped forward and shouted the normal "transform" as smoke appeared in his immediate vicinity. When the smoke cleared away…

'_What the… was this what has kept Naruto so busy lately? He's been working on making a jutsu like that?'_

Mari's left eye twitched in discomfort as she witnessed her best male friend turn into a girl, teenage, _naked_ version of himself. If it weren't for the smoke trails covering the more unmentionable parts, all the boys in the class would have gotten an eyeful of the female anatomy. A very _blessed_ version of the female anatomy. She honestly didn't want to know how Naruto figured out how to… transform like that. To do a transformation correctly you would have to know what you were transforming into beforehand.

Iruka's face became paler than chalk, and his jaw practically unhinged before he flew back, his nosebleed gushing out with such force Mari was surprised he didn't die of blood loss.

Honestly, were all the adult males she knew total, complete perverts?

Naruto undid the jutsu as he started laughing, clutching his stomach as he doubled over.

"Got ya!"

_Oh dear kami-sama, the poor boy is gonna provoke him._

"That's my Sexy Jutsu!"

Mari coughed lightly to cover up her snicker. The jutsu may have been a little degrading to witness but the name was funny enough.

"_CUT THE STUPID TRICKS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"_ Iruka-sensei screamed at him, recovering quickly. The whole class flinched, glad they weren't on the receiving end of Iruka-sensei's Big Head Jutsu.

…_I seriously need to learn that one._

It was defiantly scary enough.

* * *

"I can't believe you did it again, Naruto."

"Humph," he huffed.

"Ah, whatever, it gives us an excuse to hang out at least," Mari muttered, making sure he knew she wasn't angry at him. Once more she had volunteered to help Naruto clean up one of his pranks. He'd need it too with what he had managed to pull off this time. "Sides, we all learned something from this."

At this he paused in his scrubbing to squint at her curiously, his head tilting to the side cutely. Mari often compared him to a puppy when he looked at her like that.

"You've got a hidden artistic streak in you," she chuckled. He grinned with a small laugh of his own, though not to loud. He had told her earlier he wanted Iruka-sensei to know he wasn't pleased with his punishment and was going to act like it the whole nine yards, even if he did deserve it.

The entire Hokage monument was covered in paint. Naruto had woken up at the crack of dawn to cover Konohagakure's most revered landmark in graffiti. She knew that he only really did it for attention. So many people in the village hated him, and despite how many friends she, herself, had, only she and Hinata had ever accepted him among the others their age. It was a sad truth, and one she didn't fully understand. She figured something must have happened before she came here. Probably something his parents did maybe? But even Naruto didn't know who his parents were. He was an orphan.

Her thoughts flickered momentarily towards what might have happened to her if Kakashi hadn't found her. Would she be an orphan to? Would she have ever made it to wherever she was running? Would that terrible killing intent have ever caught her?

Indeed that was all she could remember, just running from something so terrifying that she refused to stop. After she had gotten caught in the bear trap Kakashi had found and saved her. She often wondered what had happened to her, where her biological parents were, _who_ they were.

She really loved her dad, and she knew she wouldn't leave him. _He_ was her dad, no matter what. Even if she found her family some day he would still be the most important person in her life - her _only_ father. Naruto didn't have any parents though. The closest that he ever came to having a dad was probably their sensei, Iruka, who seemed more like his older brother than anything. Mari could see through Naruto's tough act. He really looked up to the older Chuunin, despite how strict their sensei could sometimes be. She could tell that Iruka cared for Naruto as well, even if he didn't always show it. He was the only adult in the entire village that even so much as gave him the time of day. Well, except for Ichiraku Teuchi – owner of Ichiraku's Ramen Bar – and his daughter Ayame. They had grown used to the boy's love for their ramen and had warmed up to him a lot over the years.

But Naruto was still hated by the majority of the village. She'd witnessed terrible things over the years, things that she knew should never have happened. The beatings, the name-calling… his birthday.

The worst day of the year for him would be his birthday. If he even dared to go outside mobs of drunken, angry adults would be lining the streets, waiting for their chance to take a swing at him. Yet through all of this, Naruto had to be the most cheerful, outgoing guy she knew. He never gave up no matter the cost.

Neither would she. She'd keep fighting for her dreams if it cost her, her very life.

While she had retreated deep into her thoughts, the two had gone back to working in silent companionship. That is until Naruto decided to voice his anger towards his teacher in a frustrated mumble.

"This sucks, loser."

Apparently Iruka had heard all the way from his perch atop one of the Hokage's heads.

"You're not going home until you've cleaned off every single drop of paint. Well, Mari can but you're lucky she won't."

True. Iruka had long since given up on getting her to let Naruto serve his time on his own.

"So what? It's not like there's anyone waiting at home for me!" The trouble-making blonde called back, pretending not to care about the time-consuming punishment.

A moment passed in silence. Mari kept her focus on a particularly rough portion of rock where the paint had gotten into a bunch of tiny ridges. Warm water and soap splotched her usually spotless clothes and created sudsy trails down her arms. She had earlier wrapped her braid into a bun atop her head so her long hair wouldn't accidentally dip into the soap filled bucket at her feet. She and Naruto were using a wooden scaffold to wash the paint off the Hokage faces… which were carved into a mountain.

Yeah, peachy, ain't it?

"Naruto?" Mari's attention turned towards her teacher as she picked on the guilt inflicted tone of his voice.

"What do you want now, sensei?" Naruto replied rudely, showing off his "I couldn't care less about what you're going to say" attitude.

"Well, I was just thinking… maybe after you clean all of this up I could take you and Mari here out for some ramen. The good stuff, what do ya think?"

Naruto's sour look melted away into a look of incredulous joy, making Mari chuckle a bit.

"Now that's some serious motivation! We'll have this clean in no time!" The blond exclaimed, rubbing the rock clean with renewed vigor.

…_If he doesn't chip the rock away while we're at it…_ But Mari just shook her head and smiled at his antics. She sure knew how to choose her best friends.


	8. Exams and Uchihas

_**(Again, I know this isn't very long but it was eight pages and I've written it in two days! I really wanted to update before the weekend ended so please forgive me if it's not as good or doesn't meet your standards! Enjoy the story!)**_

Chapter Eight

~At Ichiraku's Ramen Bar~

_It was nice of Iruka-sensei to take us out to eat._ A certain sapphire-eyed girl thought as she carefully ate the bowl of steaming shrimp ramen before her. She loved ramen, adored it actually, but not quite as much as Naruto.

Obnoxious slurping sounds could be heard throughout the small bar and she could swear Iruka looked ready to give Naruto a lecture on manners. What he said though, surprisingly had nothing to do with the blonds' eating habits.

"Naruto?" Iruka asked, turning to look at the twelve-year-old in question. Naruto glanced up, not once taking a breath between streams of noodles as he hummed his response. "Why would you do that to the Hokage faces?" Iruka asked gently but seriously. Mari respected his gentle but firm nature. It was probably the only reason he could keep his rowdy class in line. "I mean you know who the Hokage are, don't you?"

"Course I do." He paused to finish off the broth in his ramen bowl, seemingly unaffected by Iruka's worry. "Everybody knows that. They were the greatest Shinobi of their time, right? The best of the best? Undefeated ninja champs? The Fourth Hokage is the one who saved the village from the Nine-tailed Fox. He was the most amazing!" He answered, referring to the Fourth Hokage with reverence. Naruto held the Fourth in the highest regard. He was like a hero to the blonde troublemaker.

"Then why did you-"

Naruto interrupted him before he could finish his question. "Because I'm going to be greater than any of them! Me! Naruto! The next Hokage! A ninja legend! Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting me and look up to me! Dattebayo!"

Both turned at the sound of Mari's amused chuckle. She too had finished her ramen and had been listening to Naruto's enthusiastic speech. The two best friends exchanged grins, Mari's encouraging and Naruto's grateful. Iruka smiled.

'_Their bond is so strong you can see it just by looking at the two of them together. They've been like that for so many years… it would take a huge effort to separate them. I just hope they can stay like this. Bonds like these are so rare anymore…'_

Naruto had turned back to his sensei, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Uh, by the way, I kind of want to ask a little favor sensei."

"You want another bowl?" The chuunin asked, amused.

"Nunn-nn," Naruto declined with a shake of his head. Iruka was a bit surprised; Naruto never turned down another bowl of ramen, especially if someone else was paying. "I want to try on your headband. Come on! Please?" he begged, his blue eyes going bambi-like as he clasped his hands before him.

"Oh, this?" Iruka gestured towards the Leaf Village headband. Every ninja of a village wore a headband like it. A piece of cloth adorned with a sheet of metal into which their village symbol was carved. Some ninja wore theirs differently, many on their arms, legs, waist or around their neck. You only received one once you've graduated from the academy of your village. "No way. You can only wear the Leaf headband when you finally graduate from the academy and become a ninja. You've got to pass the test tomorrow," he replied with a small smile.

"Don't you want to wear your very own headband when you wear one for the first time?" Mari added.

"That is so uncool," the young blond huffed, crossing his arms and looking down at his empty bowl of ramen, not seeming to hear what Mari said.

"Ha-ha. Hey is that why you took off your goggles?" Iruka-sensei teased.

"Uh, I want another bowl!"

Mari and Iruka just laughed.

* * *

It was the day of the exam and Mari was getting really excited. She just _knew_ she was going to pass!

"LOOK OUT KONOHA! HERE COMES HATAKE MARI! NEWEST KONOHA KUNOICHI!"

"Wow, Mari, what's got you so excited?" Choji asked as she entered the class with a confident smile.

"I'm gonna pass this test with flying colors! You can bet your bag of chips on it!"

"This test is so troublesome, why can't we just pass based on our grades in the class?" Shikamaru muttered lazily from his desk as Mari came to stand before him to talk. Her usual seat had been taken by one of her random classmates sh'd never really bothered getting to know. Pretty much everyone was already seated, but Iruka wasn't there yet as he was setting up the test in the other room. Shikamaru sighed stolidly, his chin propped on his hand.

"I dunno, but either way we're going to finally graduate and never have to sit all day in a classroom again," Mari pointed out. The lazy boy conceded with a small shrug.

"Hey, we'd better go sit down, Iruka's here," Choji suggested, his words muffled by his mouthful of chips. Mari nodded and turned to look for a seat. The only two now available were between Naruto and the village heart throb, Uchiha Sasuke.

She made her way over, a small bounce in her step, and pulled out the seat next to Naruto who was looking rather anxious.

"What's up, Naru-kun?" She chirped quietly, laying her head on the desk so she could look up at his downturned face. She hadn't seen Hinata all morning and now Naruto was sad? What was up with them today?

But Naruto never got a chance to respond as Iruka had walked in and began explaining the exam to the class.

Apparently the test would have three parts. A short written exam testing them on the Shinobi rules _again, _followed by a target test involving a required number of hits with a shuriken and kunai, then a ninjutsu test. They would be told which jutsu to perform when the third test began.

Needless to say the first two tests were relatively easy. Naruto managed to remember enough of the Shinobi rules to pass the written exam so there were no problems there, even if he had freaked out beforehand and nearly shook Mari's brains to mush. Hinata had shown up seconds before the test began, something about her alarm not going off, much to the dark-haired girl's embarrassment.

Mari and Sasuke were the only ones to get perfect scores on the target test but many such as Shikamaru (the lazy bum didn't even try), Shino, and Kiba weren't far behind. Naruto wasn't bad either, but he definitely wasn't good. Mari knew he knew how to do it but even Naruto got nervous before a test. A lot of the time it was as though he forgot everything he learned in his rushed frenzy to get the test over with. Like during the target test for example. His stance was sloppy, and he put way to much force into his throws. Really he wasn't that bad, just careless and distracted.

But the ninjutsu test was another story altogether…

"And we'll now start the final stage of the exam," Iruka announced, once more holding his clipboard. Everyone was seated once more in the classroom and the door connecting their classroom to the next was left ajar, hinting that that was the location in which each of them would be individually tested for their ninjutsu skills. "When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on the clone jutsu."

Naruto immediately let out a tortured groan, his head falling into his hands. Mari rubbed his back sympathetically. The clone jutsu was his worst jutsu and they both knew it.

"Ne, Naru-kun, just do your best!" She murmured to him encouragingly, though she was sure her comforting words fell on deaf ears. There was no telling how far into a panic Naruto now was, he wouldn't even lift his head as the first person was called.

"Aburame Shino."

Shino stood, silent as always, and went into the testing room. He didn't come back out as "Akimichi Choji" was called, so Mari figured they would be exiting through the hallway instead of the classroom they were already in. Probably to protect the identities of those who passed and failed for the time being.

Right after "Haruno Sakura," Mari was called up.

"Hatake Mari."

With one last glance at her suffering friend she slowly stood and made her way into the next classroom. Before her sat both Iruka and Mizuki – the teacher's assistant – behind a table upon which thirty hatai-ates previously sat. Several of them were missing, so she assumed that at least the majority of those who were tested before her had passed.

She stood in the center of the room waiting for the go ahead. Iruka-sensei gave her a smile and a nod. She smiled back before making the hand signs Tora, I, Ushi, Inu (tiger, boar, ox, dog), **(A/N: These are the actual hand signs people! I'll be using all the actual hand signs throughout the entire story so feel free to copy them down and use them yourself! I'll try posting them on my profile for those of you who think you might want to use them) **concentrating her chakra correctly.

"Ninja Clone Jutsu!"

In seven puffs of smoke, seven clones of herself appeared, all in varying poses. One had even perched herself atop another's shoulders.

Iruka grinned and she released the jutsu, feeling proud. The day their class had first learned it Mari had refused to go to sleep until she could make at least two perfect clones. Now she could make seven or eight without a problem.

"You pass! Congratulations, Mari, we welcome you as our newest kunoichi of Konoha!"

* * *

A certain brunette rushed out the doors of the Academy, eyes only searching for her dad in her anticipation of telling him the great news. She had passed! She was finally a ninja of Konoha! And she would make sure to live proudly up to his name and beyond. One day she'd make her dad so proud of her… but for now becoming an official ninja would have to suffice.

She knew that Kashi-tou was usually late, but all day she'd had this nagging feeling that he'd make it on time this time….only he wasn't here…

"Looking for someone?" A deep voice came from behind her. She spun around, eyes wide in surprise, before tackling the man who stood there in an ecstatic hug.

"Kashi-tou! I made it! I graduated!" She exclaimed cheerfully, showing him her hatai-ate tied proudly around her neck like a choker.

"So I can see," he chuckled as he kneeled down to hug her back. "I'm proud you're finally achieving your dream."

They both knew that her dream was unclear. Mari and her father had often talked of dreams and what hers might be for the future. All she knew was that this was where she wanted to be. This was where she was happy. On her way to becoming the best ninja she could be. She belonged on this road and she knew many important and amazing things would happen while she was on it. It was as simple as that.

The two talked for a while about what they planned to do to celebrate. In all the excitement she barely registered that her other classmates were slowly trickling out until one of them brushed so closely past her she almost stumbled back. Turning, she looked to see who it was only for her eyes to connect with a pair of dark, onyx ones. Uchiha Sasuke.

He had passed, quite obviously, and now looked back at her calmly, their eyes not leaving one another's as though some invisible force wouldn't let them turn away. She couldn't tell what kept them rooted there like that. It wasn't anything romantic like a fan-girl might lead herself to believe, nor was it any sort of competition of will - just a connection that drew both to a halt, a calming completeness that seemed to wash through them, a silent understanding passing between them.

With that Sasuke turned around and walked off, hands shoved in the pockets of his white shorts. She looked after him for a moment before turning back to her dad who had been momentarily caught up in a conversation with one of his few friends. He wasn't very social, even if he knew everyone anyway.

Mari never noticed Naruto trudge out of the classroom with a bowed head, nor his conversation with Mizuki and his untimely disappearance from the Academy's courtyard.

* * *

Yes, today was probably the best day of her life so far. After leaving the crowd at the academy, she and her dad had gone out for an early dinner at Ryu no Sachi and then went home. At the moment she was sitting before a box, a very familiar box in which she kept her most prized possessions.

It was the gift she had gotten from her dad for her eleventh birthday. She had sworn not to use it until the day she graduated from the Academy, but even now she didn't want to open the box.

The moonlight shone in through her window, giving her room a soft, ethereal glow. She sat on the window seat, box in her lap, and thought. She thought about everything that had happened that day, of everything that she had done and wanted to do, the past, the present, the future. Her mind was involuntarily pulled back to that moment in which sapphire and onyx had met on a level she'd never felt before. It left a nice feeling in her mind, as though it had cleansed her of all worry and doubt and any bad aura around her. But she still wasn't sure what to make of it. She had no feelings for him that she knew of, so what could it be?

She wasn't sure. She'd known him once when they were kids. They'd played at the park together occasionally and even had a childish heart-to-heart once. She remembered that day all too clearly.

'_I would wish it had never happened,' _she thought, _'if I was sure that everything would have turned out the better for it.'_

But she wasn't sure. That was the problem. What if the Uchiha massacre had never happened? What if Itachi hadn't killed his entire clan? Would Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's beloved older brother, have merely left? Why had he killed them? Why had he really? No one knew. Most claimed he had done it as a measure of his power, but Mari wasn't so sure. There had to be something more to it, right? Or was she just over-thinking things again?

She sighed softly, watching her side-bangs flutter a little before sighing again. It wasn't fair for Sasuke. He'd had a great childhood up until that day. Granted his father doted more on Itachi for being the prodigy that he was, but they were loved equally, especially by their mother.

She'd met them, the clan, Itachi. Not everyone of course, as there had been over a hundred members of the family at the Uchiha compound, but quite a few. They were the kinds of meetings that had happened in passing at the market place or on the way to school, even in the library. She just had a hard time accepting that they were all gone. Everyone else in the village acted as though all was normal, but for her it had been a daily thing to notice the dark-haired, fair-skinned Uchiha's going about their daily lives. She'd been just as curious about them as they were her.

She wasn't sure why they were curious about her. Sometimes it seemed as though they found her familiar, but for the most part the Uchiha's she met hadn't minded entertaining the childish curiosities she had. Questions about weapons or just comments on the weather were her routine. She wasn't intimidated by them, and now that they were gone she realized that many people had been. Maybe that was why. They were a strong clan after all. Maybe they had seemed to like her so much because she wasn't in the least bit afraid.

… She remembered the first day she had really taken the time to Sasuke so long ago.

*Flashback*

"_Hey Mari, I've got to go to the marketplace to pick a few things up. You think you'll be all right here on your own?" A silver-haired man asked his daughter. The seven-year-old gave a determined nod, showing that she would be alright until he came back. They had gone to the park to pass the time when Kakashi had realized he still needed to go buy a few things, one of them being the latest book to his favorite series __Icha Icha Paradise._

"_I'll be back soon, okay? Why don't you find some kids to play with and make a few friends?"_

"_Alright, Kashi-tou-san!"_

_When her father was finally out of sight, Mari headed over to the swings – her favorite area of the park – only to find another kid, a boy, sitting at one of them already. He looked familiar but she wasn't completely – wait. Wasn't he in her class?_

_Remembering what her dad had told her about making friends she walked up to him and put on her best smile._

"_Hi! I'm Mari!"_

_The boy looked up at her in surprise, probably not expecting anyone to walk over and introduce themselves so suddenly. It didn't matter; she was going to be friends with him._

"_I'm Sasuke," the dark-haired boy murmured._

'_Wow, he sure is quiet. He must be really shy. I don't think I've seen him really talk to many people in class either.'__ She thought to herself. But Hinata was her friend and she was shy too. Was she just the kind of person that made friends with shy people or was it a coincidence?_

_She was going to go with the latter._

"_So you go to the Academy, right? I think you're in my class."_

"_Yeah."_

"_Cool. I want to become a ninja so I can make my dad proud," She bragged a little, trying to start up more of a two-sided conversation. He really was quiet._

_It seemed, however, that her words had worked magic, as Sasuke perked up at this._

"_Really? Me too! I want to make my dad and my aniki proud of me and be the best ninja in Konoha… well best after my brother. He's the best ninja in Konoha!"_

_Mari could have argued that her dad was the best, but she just settled for finally getting him to talk. She took a seat on the swing beside him and smiled._

"_Cool! I know you're gonna do it! We can become ninja's together, ne? Then we can make our families proud of us!"_

"_Yeah!"_

*End Flashback*

It was kind of adorable now that she thought about it. Both of them were so cute and oblivious back then. He was so different to the usually cold and stolid person he was now.

… If she had gone through what he had… would she be like that too?

After that day they had kind of been friends. They had talked and swung on the swings for what seemed like hours until Kakashi had come back and she left to go home with him. No more than a year later though, the Uchiha massacre happened… and Sasuke closed himself off from everyone. It didn't hurt her much, as they hadn't really been that close, but she silently worried for him for a while. She knew he was hurting and she wished she could help, but how could she when she didn't know what he was going through?

…Maybe-

_Tap._

"EEP!" _Thud. _She had been startled out of her thoughts and fallen to the side in shock.

'_Well crap! What the hell was that?'_ Mari thought, groaning from her place on the floor. The box's contents had spilled out next to her and she hurriedly picked them up, placing them neatly back inside.

It was a set of kunai made of a special black metal with summoning seals on the handles. They were beautiful and priceless in her eyes. Every edge was razor sharp and the metal was smooth and cool to the touch, gleaming purple and blue in the faint moonlight. The summoning seals around the handles were special in that she could summon them after losing them in battle – an everlasting kunai set. All she had to do was put a drop of her blood on the seals and after that, no matter where she was, she could summon each of them to her just by thinking and performing the basic summoning jutsu her dad had taught her.

She hadn't wanted to use them until the first day of her becoming a ninja. She had even decided to wait until she was assigned to a team. They were special to her, as everything her dad gave her was.

_Tap, tap, tap._

There it was again, that strange tapping noise.

Standing and placing the box on her bed, Mari walked back over to her window and opened it, peering out just in time to dodge the pebble headed straight for her face.

"Gah! Sorry Mari-chan!"

"Naruto?"

Indeed the blonde boy was standing in her front yard below her bedroom window with a hand full of pebbles and an excited grin on his face.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing here? It's already past ten!"

"Aw, common Mari, don't be like that! I need your help with something!"

"Well, what is it then?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me about a way I can still pass the exam!"

Suddenly a wave of guilt washed over her. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts and her own celebration; she hadn't even thought to see if Naruto had passed the exam! She really was a terrible friend.

"Wait right there, I'll be right down, okay?" She saw the blonde nod and ducked back into her room, dashing over to her closet to pull out an outfit and change out of her night clothes. Whatever it was she could do to help, she would. Not only to make up for her forgetfulness, but because she was his friend and that's what friends did for one another.

* * *

_**Please read and review! **_

_3 ~chu_

_-Mari_


	9. Scrolls and Traitors

**_A/N: So here we are! I promised to get another chapter up this week and I've finally done it! Thank you so much to all of my supporters! You guys rock!_**

Chapter Nine

"We've got to do _what?_"

"Yeah, yeah! That's what Mizuki-sensei told me!" Naruto affirmed, bouncing around with excitement. He was so hyped about getting a second chance to pass the exam (well really his fourth as he had decided to take the exam early twice before and failed both times) he didn't even notice Mari's slight apprehension about the plan.

Once Mari had left a note for her dad and jumped out the two-story window, she and Naruto had dashed down the street a safe distance to begin discussing what Mizuki-sensei had told him in hushed whispers. Apparently after the exams were over, Mizuki had taken Naruto aside for a heart-to-heart.

-Naruto's Flashback-

"_Iruka-sensei is tough but he's not against you." Mizuki-sensei assured Naruto as they sat together, watching the sun dip below the horizon. They were enjoying the view from atop Mizuki's tall apartment building._

"_Then why? Why only me?" Naruto sounded defeated. He'd been miserable all day and it had gotten worse when his failure was confirmed once again._

"_He wants you to be strong with all his heart but that will never happen if he goes easy on you," Mizuki replied calmly to the blond ninja-in-training. "He's like you, you know. No parents, no family."_

_Naruto thought for a moment. "But this time I really wanted to graduate."_

_Mizuki chuckled, "Then I guess I have to tell you."_

"_Huh?" Naruto voiced, suddenly confused. He looked up at Mizuki from where he sat, legs dangling over the edge of the roof._

"_It's a secret but I'm gonna let you in on it," Mizuki explained._

'_A secret?'__ He thought, leaning in to hear what it was._

-End Naruto's Flashback-

According to Mizuki, there was a secret way to pass the academy exam that no one had been told about in years. All Naruto had to do was sneak into the Hokage's house, borrow a large scroll with a special seal on it, and learn a jutsu from that scroll.

It all sounded really fishy to Mari. She could practically hear her dad's voice ringing in her head.

'_Every ninja must see underneath the underneath.'_

Naruto, however, wouldn't be deterred and she had already made up her mind to go through this with him. Besides, if anything weird happened, at least she'd be there to help him. It wasn't like Mizuki-sensei was evil or anything… was he?

She quickly shook the thought from her head. She wouldn't jump to conclusions until she learned something that would prove her uneasy feeling to be well-founded. For now, they had a scroll to borrow.

'_Something is definitely not right,' _Thought our dark-haired heroine. She and Naruto were currently fleeing from the Hokage's residence, scroll in possession, after a nerve-wracking encounter with the Hokage himself.

Dear Kami-sama, she'd nearly had a heart attack when the Sandaime had walked up behind them and asked what they were doing in his house. She figured it was to be expected since the scroll _was _supposed to be a secret, but it was still a frightening experience she didn't want to repeat. It made her stomach twist in guilt. No, if she felt this way it meant something wasn't right. Something was happening that she didn't like, and based upon the intensity of the weight in her gut, something very bad was about to happen soon.

She'd always gotten these feelings. That's what made it so easy for her to continue doing her best while not having a defined purpose in life. If she got these feelings she knew it wouldn't be good for her. The feeling had always been right those other times, so why not now?

She wasn't backing out yet though. Naruto needed her… but that didn't mean she couldn't freak out when he attacked the Hokage!

"What the hell were you thinking back there, pulling that on the Lord Hokage?"

Naruto turned to look at her over his shoulder, seemingly amused by the whole situation.

"Did you see him?" The blonde-haired troublemaker exclaimed cheerfully. "He totally fell for it! He dropped just like Iruka-sensei did!"

If you just happened to be wondering, yes. Yes, Naruto did use _that _jutsu on the Hokage.

… And it worked.

"Kami-sama, Naruto, what am I going to do with you? One of these days you're going to get yourself into a crap-load of trouble and I won't be there to help you get out of it!" He'd nearly gotten them lost twice while they were looking for the scroll, and they would have been if it hadn't been for Mari dragging him off in the right direction.

"Aw, common, Mari-chan! Stop being such a party-pooper! We got the scroll didn't we? Now all we have to do is learn a jutsu and I'll pass! I'll finally get to be a ninja!"

Mari didn't fail to notice the _"we" _in his sentence.

"Ne? What do you mean, Naru-kun? I'm not going to be learning a jutsu, you need to," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but you've gotta help me so you might as well learn one too!" He insisted as they took to the trees. She shrugged the best she could and sighed. She wished that uncomfortable feeling would go away.

Maybe it was something she ate? She hoped so.

* * *

Being woken up by an ANBU member claiming that your daughter and one of her best friends stole the Sacred Scroll of Sealing from the Hokage's house wasn't exactly on Hatake Kakashi's to-do list.

Unfortunately, fate decided to throw him that particular curb no more than half an hour after his daughter snuck out of the house.

"The Hokage has ordered a meeting of all Chuunin and Jounin! Go straight to the top of the Hokage tower immediately," A masked ninja relayed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

What the hell had Naruto gotten his daughter into this time?

* * *

"So what is this place?" Mari asked once they'd arrived in the clearing Naruto had wanted them to practice in. A small shed stood off to the side among the trees but otherwise the clearing was open and ready to use.

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it. He said it was his special spot he used when practicing new jutsu and that we could use it! Dattebayo!"

Mari narrowed her deep blue eyes as her gaze swept across the clearing, scrutinizing every inch of it for some sign that something was wrong. She just couldn't shake that bad feeling. She shook the odd sensation off again and turned to Naruto, having found nothing at all wrong with their surroundings.

"Alright then, let's do this! The sooner we start, the sooner you can pass and the both of us can get home and get a good night's rest."

Naruto nodded and plopped down on the ground where he stood, pulling the giant scroll they had taken off his back and putting it in his lap. Mari walked over and looked on as he opened the scroll.

"Let's see, the first one is…'Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.' Augh! Not this again! It's my worst jutsu!" Naruto complained as he realized that learning the Jutsus of the sacred scroll wouldn't be as easy as he thought. Mari let out an amused sigh at his antics.

'_Oh the irony; of course he would end up with a jutsu like that.'_

"You have got to be kidding me," Naruto griped to himself, glaring hard at the scroll as if it had done him a personal offense. Suddenly his whole demeanor changed and his mood switched from frustrated to determined in a matter of seconds. "Wait a second! If I learn this jutsu then Iruka-sensei will pass me for sure!"

"It's very likely," Mari agreed, nodding.

"Okay! You choose one too! Then maybe we can teach each other what we learned later, okay?" said Naruto, looking hopefully towards his friend.

"Fine by me," she said with a shrug. He beamed and peered over her shoulder while she took the scroll and began looking through the potential jutsus she could learn.

'_Hmm… that one sounds interesting, and it shouldn't be too difficult both since I currently have both fire and earth chakra…"_

"Did you choose yet?"

Mari chuckled lightly at how impatient the hyper blond boy could be.

"Yeah, yeah, I chose one already. I'm going to learn Ember Spitfire Jutsu." **(A/N: My very own jutsu!)**

"Cool! You've so gotta teach that to me!" Naruto cheered, looking at the steps for the jutsu. Mari decided not to point out he might have a difficult time learning it depending on his chakra nature and instead kept her mind focused on the task at hand.

"Alright, Naruto, we need to start practicing right away. We don't have much time if you want to pass before they start choosing teams, okay?"

"Roger!"

With one last glance at the jutsu Mari walked over to a nice spot in the clearing, leaving room for Naruto to practice his own jutsu, and began focusing her chakra as she practiced the hand seals.

'_Rabbit, Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Boar, and then Tiger again, this should be simple enough…"_

**(A/N: That would be U, Tora, Tatsu, Mi, I, and then Tora again, the ending being Tiger like all fire jutsu.)**

* * *

Kakashi really wished he didn't have to be here right now. Actually, he wished a lot of things, but none of them seemed likely to come true at the moment.

'_Just what are you doing, Mari? Why did you help Naruto steal that scroll?' _He thought to himself, his one visible slate-grey eye narrowing as he tried to figure it out. He trusted his daughter and knew she wouldn't do something like this without a very good reason.

"Lord Hokage, this is not just a prank, this is a serious crime," a high-level chuunin protested to the Hokage's calm demeanor. Many ninja had been gathered at the top of the Hokage's tower to receive orders on retrieving the scroll and the two juveniles who took it. The Hokage had just finished explaining the situation to all those who had been called here.

"That scroll contains secrets that were sealed by the first Hokage, secrets known only to our village!" Another, more feminine voice spoke up.

"If it falls into the wrong hands they can destroy our entire way of life," agreed another Jounin like himself.

"Alright," The Hokage began, pipe bobbing in his mouth as he spoke, making the smoke circle in various patterns. "Bring Naruto and Mari here at once!"

"Sir!" All of the Ninja replied without hesitation. Faster than lighting they took off as one before splitting up into groups to search for the pranksters gone too far. Kakashi joined Asuma, a Jounin, and a black-haired chuunin he was unfamiliar with.

It took all his strength not to let his temporary teammates know how worried he actually was for his daughters' safety.

'_I just hope we'll find them soon before things get too out of hand.'_

...

Nobody was aware that a certain white-haired teacher's assistant was speeding off towards a certain clearing to take the scroll from the two pre-teens who had played right into his hands. Soon enough the two of them would be dead and he'd make away with the scroll and keep it for himself.

* * *

While the ninja of the village were in an uproar, two hard-working kids were training past their limits.

Past, because at the moment Mari's limbs felt like they would fall off with the strain she was putting on herself, and yet she kept going. Past, because Naruto had just overcome his worst jutsu and mastered one even more difficult.

At one point Mari remembered suggesting that he may have been using too much chakra on the weaker version of the jutsu, the Ninja Clone Jutsu, and because the Shadow Clone Jutsu required more chakra anyway, he was able to do it. Right now though, she just wanted to fall over and sleep for a century or two.

_Two_ fireballs; she could only make _two_ fireballs! They were smaller than the Grand Fireball and Phoenix Flower Jutsus she had read about, sure, but she was supposed to be able to make dozens on the spot and breath them out at her enemies like one would spit senbon! Yet she could only make _two._

So there both she and Naruto stood, Naruto reveling in his accomplishment and Mari wallowing in frustrated despair. The former finally collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard while the latter struggled to remain standing.

She had overdone it again. Why did she always do this to herself anyway?

The question was simple enough, as was the answer. She wanted to be like the perfect mixture of her dad and Naruto.

Many people would look at Naruto and see nothing but a goofy kid who got into too much trouble for his own good on a regular basis. Those who really knew him, however, would immediately be able to tell you he was a powerhouse of stamina and chakra. It was like he never ran out! Mari wanted to be like that, to be able to keep going no matter how tough things got.

That kid was the most emotionally stable person she knew. Someday, she wanted to be just like him. Until then however…

"Gah! Mari-chan, are you okay?" Naruto cried, having seen his friend fall face-first into the ground. A muffled "Ugh" reached his ears, signaling she was fine. Just as Naruto was about to drag himself off the ground and lend her a hand back up, a foreboding shadow crept over his figure, prompting him to raise his sky-blue eyes towards… Iruka!

"It's all over," Iruka announced with a dark chuckle, glad to have caught the two troublemakers before they could cause any more damage. Anyone else would have cowered in fear at the anger etched across the brunette Chuunin's features but Naruto didn't. He wasn't just anybody after all. The blond merely laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck as was his habit in tense situations. Mari nearly had a heart attack at their sensei's sudden appearance, his voice having caused her to squeak in surprise and flop over. It was all she really felt herself able to do and it left her feeling very un-ninja-like and rather embarrassed for having been caught off guard.

"Caught us already, not bad, you're quick sensei; we only had time to learn one technique each," Naruto spoke up. This gave Iruka pause.

'_They've been out here __practicing__?' _The sensei thought. '_I can tell how hard they've been working.'_

Both Naruto and Mari were covered head to toe in dirt and sweat from all the hard work they'd been putting in. Naruto just hoped it had all paid off and that he would pass.

"Listen Iruka-sensei, I wanna show you this amazing jutsu and you're gonna let me graduate then everything will be okay," Naruto announced excitedly, leaving Iruka still confused. "That's the way it works right? Anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes!"

"Huh? Where'd you get that idea?" Their sensei exclaimed incredulously, causing Mari's head to snap up from the ground in shock.

'_What does he mean, 'Where'd we get that idea?' Mizuki said – oh crap. Mizuki! We've been tricked!'_

Mari suddenly realized why she had gotten that bad feeling. They'd been _played._

"Mizuki-sensei told us about it!" Mari gasped out, answering Iruka's question.

"Believe it! He told me where to find the scroll…and this place," Naruto trailed off as he saw the look of shock and surprise on Iruka's face. Suddenly dozens of kunai flew out of the trees towards the three of them. Mari, already being on the ground, merely had to roll away. She begrudgingly stood on wobbly legs.

'_Overdone it my ass, more like butchered the muscles in my legs. How the hell does Naruto have so much chakra?'_

"Look out!" Iruka shouted, pushing Naruto out of the way just in time before being hit with the full force of the attack. He was covered in scratches and scrapes and one kunai protruded painfully from his right leg. The force of the weapons had driven him back so his back had slammed into the old shed that stood in the clearing. Mari's eyes flickered up to the source of the attack. It had come from the trees just as she thought, and there crouched a familiar white-haired traitor.

'_Mizuki.'_

"I see you've found our little hideaway," Mizuki announced from the branch he balanced upon in the trees above them. "I didn't expect the brat to bring along his little friend, but no matter, I'll still get what I came for."

"So that's the way it is huh? I should have known," Iruka accused, wincing in pain but still standing.

"Naruto, give me the scroll, now!" Mizuki commanded his voice urgent.

Naruto, not understanding why Mizuki had attacked them didn't do anything right away. "Wait a minute! What's going on here?"

Iruka pulled the kunai out of his leg, panting with the effort of standing up. "Naruto, Don't let Mizuki get the scroll! It contains forbidden jutsu that can put this village in great danger. Mizuki _used _you to get the scroll for himself, for his own power!" Mari glared up at the man in question, her hand inching towards her weapons pouch despite her struggle to stand. This was no game, Mizuki was for real.

'_Wait! What? Forbidden jutsu?'_

"Naruto, Iruka's just trying to scare you 'cause he doesn't want you to have the scroll." By now Naruto was having a painful internal battle on who to believe. Mizuki-sensei who helped him to get the scroll so he could graduate (though not according to Iruka) or Iruka-sensei who had taught him everything he knew and was a good friend and teacher though harsh at times? Mizuki or Iruka? What was going on!

"Stop _lying_ Mizuki!" Iruka demanded before turning to his student. "Don't let him trick you Naruto!" Mizuki laughed at this.

"Oh I'll tell you who's really lying," He retorted, rising to stand from his crouching position.

"NO MIZUKI!" Iruka shouted.

"They've been lying to you your whole life Naruto," The white haired ninja continued. "Since the decree twelve years ago." Mari's brows furrowed delicately in confusion.

'_Decree?'_

"What decree?" Naruto asked cautiously, voicing the confusion of his friend as well.

Mizuki expected the question and taunted the blond further. "Everyone knows except you. Iruka's trying to hide it from you even now. He'd do _anything_ to shut me up!"

"What is this decree? Why does everyone else know about it?" Naruto asked, getting a little angry, glancing to Mari questioningly. She shook her head, telling him she was just as clueless as he. She'd never heard anything about a decree. Then again, she had only lived in the village for a little over nine years, not twelve. Even then, she wouldn't have been born. She was only eleven, even if she would be turning twelve in a few months.

"Don't tell him! It's forbidden!" Iruka shouted, still too weak to move.

"The decree is no one can tell you the Nine-tailed Fox is in inside _you_! The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over _your_ body! You _are_ the Nine-tailed Fox!"

"STOP IT!" Iruka yelled as he clenched his teeth in pain from his wounds. Naruto was frozen in shock, everything beginning to click into place.

"They've all been sneaking around hiding things from you your whole life! Didn't you think it was _strange_ how they treated you? Like dirt! Like they hated you for _just being alive!_" Tears began to well up in the corners of the young boy's eyes, the sadness quickly turning to anger.

"NO! No, no, no, no, NO!" He screamed, his chakra surging through him dangerously, making the air crackle with the strength of it.

"Naruto!" Iruka called out.

Mizuki wasn't done yet. "That's why you will never be accepted into this village! Even your beloved sensei hates your guts!" He rubbed in.

"IT'S NOT TRUE NARUTO! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! YOU'RE MY FRIEND! MY BROTHER!" Mari was able to shout despite her confusion about what was just revealed. Her glare at the white-haired man was an unforgiving one that would have made even the Hokage flinch. No one messed with her family. Naruto was like family.

Iruka tried to ignore the screaming pain in his leg as he suddenly had a flashback.

*-* Iruka's Flashback *-*

"_Iruka, Naruto never had a mother or father to care for him." The Hokage said. "He's shut out of everything and doesn't know why. Most people won't even look at him. How would you feel if everywhere you went people turned their backs on you? That's why he gets in trouble. So people would notice him. It may not show but he's always thinking about the family he doesn't have. He's hurting inside."_

*-* End Iruka's Flashback *-*

"Die Naruto!" Mizuki shouted, snapping Iruka sensei out of his thoughts in time to see Mizuki was twirling a shuriken in his hand, aiming it straight for Naruto. As the blade spun towards the boy he tried to run away but tripped, still trying to crawl to safety. Mari tried to run and help him but was too far away.

"NARUTO GET DOWN!" Iruka-sensei screamed with everything he had. Out of reflex the boy listened only to see a moment later that Iruka was kneeled over him, the shuriken in his back. Three drops of blood splattered on Naruto's face as he stared in shock, not able to comprehend the scene before him. Mizuki watched as well, angry that Iruka had blocked his attack. He attempted to follow it up with a small barrage of kunai but Mari whipped her own out and threw them, the weapons colliding in mid-air and canceling each other out.

"Nice try, _sensei,_" The brunette spat sarcastically to the white-haired man. He glared at her, his grey eyes cold.

"W-Why?" Naruto managed to stutter out.

"Because we're the same," His sensei replied, obviously in pain but still managing to hold his body up. "When I lost my parents no one seemed to care. They didn't have time for me. They just forgot I was there. My grades dropped. I became the class clown. I just wanted them to see me and to know my name. My school work wasn't good enough to get their attention so I did crazy things and then I had to pay for it. It was hard. I know that's how you feel Naruto," He said to the boy he was kneeling over, using his body as a shield to protect him. "You feel lonely and it hurts inside." By now Iruka had tears streaming down his face from the pain of his memories and his injuries both. "And I could've been there for you more. I let you down. I'm sorry. No one should have to suffer that much. No one should be alone like that."

Mizuki began to chuckle evilly at the scene before him. "Don't make me laugh! Iruka always hated you! He was orphaned because the Nine-tailed Fox killed his parents. And that beast is now inside you." Mizuki's words seemed to have an effect on Naruto, making to boy look at Iruka with a mix of anger and hurt. "He'd say anything to get the scroll from you." Naruto turned slowly away from Iruka-sensei as Mizuki was speaking and at the last word took off at a breakneck speed.

"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei called after him. "NARUTOOOOOOO!" Mari rushed after her friend, outraged by the two Jounin who had hurt him so badly. She wasn't going to leave Naruto all alone. He needed someone now more than ever.

"He-heh" Mizuki laughed cruelly at his fallen comrade who continued to kneel where he was, staring after his two students in horrified shock. "You know, once he makes up his mind nothing can change it. He's going to use the scroll to take revenge on the village. You saw that look in his eye didn't you?" He asked Iruka who was still on the ground, panting in pain. "Those are the eyes of a beast." At that Iruka lifted his arm and pulled out the shuriken, causing the wound to emit a small burst of blood that trailed down his back. "The girl is on his side. You heard her call him her brother! She'll do anything he asks."

"No," Iruka breathed angrily, getting to his feet. "They aren't like that!" He quickly spun around, aiming the shuriken at Mizuki who easily dodged it by stepping to the side.

"You're a joke. As soon as I eliminate those two and get the scroll I'll be back for you." And with that Mizuki leapt away.

* * *

**_A/N: O.O OOOOhhhh! Cliffy! Lol, don't hate me too much! I'm on a role so I'm starting the next chapter right about...NOW! :D_**


	10. Graduations and Getting Ahead

_**A/N: Okay, yes, I do realize that this is out really late despite that I started writing it right after posting the last chapter! But please don't eat me! I really tried to get this out before exams and all the end-of-the-school-year hassle, but quite frankly I failed! It was only made worse when I got a small case of writers' block! No worries though, that's all behind me. School is over and my days have opened up a bit, even if I'm taking Latin and Japanese (awesome right?) classes this summer. Expect to learn at least a few Japanese phrases throughout my story. For those of you who bother to read these authors' notes, I'd like to know how you'd like me to translate said phrases? Before every chapter in the authors' note, after the chapter, or in the chapter itself wherever it's being said. I'd like to know because I know that it can get annoying to scroll up or down to find out what something means but it can also ruin the flow of the story or the mood itself when the sentence is interrupted like that.**_

_**In this chapter: **_

_**baka ka = a**hole**_

_**tamagoyaki = rolled omelets (yum!)**_

_**ON WITH THE STORY! ^^**_

Chapter Ten

The Hokage figured it would only go downhill from there.

Where exactly?

Well he was currently sitting in his office, intently watching the events that were occurring in the forests of Konoha through a crystal ball only he could use. At the moment, the image in the crystal portrayed a betrayed and hurt looking Naruto leaping through the trees beside his furious female friend – Hatake Mari. Even he, the _Hokage, _hadn't known that Mizuki had planned on betraying the village to gain power. It just wasn't a thought that had ever crossed his mind.

"This is not good," He said to himself, his hands clasped before him and his gaze remaining unwaveringly on what the crystal showed him. "Mizuki has a big mouth. He made Naruto feel so bad… worse than he's ever felt. It could unleash the power inside of him! If Naruto keeps tampering with the scroll the seal that locks the Fox spirit inside of him could be broken and the beast could come out. If that happens…I fear for us all."

* * *

"Naruto, everything Mizuki said was a lie!" Iruka shouted to his student as he caught sight of Naruto speeding ahead of him, jumping ninja style through the tree branches at top speed. Mari was now nowhere to be seen. "Give me the scroll! Hurry! He's coming after you to take it away!"

Naruto landed on yet another branch and braced to launch himself at Iruka, pretending to prepare to jump to the next branch. Jumping up he caught the sensei off guard, causing him to slam to the ground painfully. Naruto landed not far behind, skidding across the ground with the force of his momentum and only barely managing to stay upright. He was uncharacteristically quiet.

"It's can't be," Iruka voiced. Naruto, completely exhausted backed up against a tree and slid to the ground, holding the scroll securely in his arms. "How did you know Naruto? How did you know-?" The sensei canceled the Jutsu, revealing his true identity - Mizuki. "That it was me and not Iruka?" Naruto smirked, still panting from the exertion, canceling his own Jutsu to reveal _his_ true identity.

"Because _I'm_ Iruka."

Mizuki stood at this, not allowing himself to be impressed.

"You're a fool," The traitor ninja stated. "Why are you protecting that _freak_? He's the one who wiped out your family." Neither of them knew that the real Naruto was hidden behind a tree close by, hearing everything that they said. Mari was seated behind him, arms wrapped around his shoulders in a supportive hug, clutching the trembling boy to her in hopes to relieve some of his pain. Her face was buried between his neck and shoulder and Naruto clutched one of her hands, which was draped across his shoulder, like it was his lifeline as silent tears slid down his face.

"I don't care what you say," Iruka countered. "You're not getting your hands on that scroll."

"As if you could stop me," Mizuki taunted, unknowingly irking Naruto in the process. "Don't you get it? Naruto is just like me."

"How's that?" Iruka inquired, daring the white-haired traitor to compare his character to that of his student.

"He wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance. That's how beasts are. He'll pour all his rage into the scroll and then destroy everything!"

"You're right," Iruka-sensei said, taking Naruto off guard and causing him to gasp. '_So it's true,'_ The young ninja-in-training thought. '_Iruka-sensei never believed in me. He thinks I'm some beast, some kind of __freak__!_' Mari tightened her hold on her friend. How could he say that about Naruto? He was like an older brother in Naruto's eyes! A father even!

"That is how beasts are," Iruka continued. "But that's not how Naruto is. He's nothing like that." Naruto's eyes widened in shock and Mari looked up at him in surprise. "Naruto's one of a kind. Works hard, puts his whole heart into it. Sure he messes up sometimes and everyone jumps on him but his suffering only makes him stronger. That's what separates him from being a beast. So you're wrong. He's nothing like the Nine-tailed Fox. He's Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."Iruka's words were so strong and so much kinder than any Naruto had ever heard before. He had no idea that Iruka-sensei thought that much of him and it caused his silent tears to stream down his face with new purpose: _happiness. _He was finally being recognized.

Mari smiled a small smile as she witnessed Naruto change before her eyes. She let him go as the two of them stood and peaked around the tree at the two sensei's – one a friend and the other a traitor.

"Huh, you really believe that for real? Iruka I was going to save you for later but I changed my mind. You're finished!" Mizuki shouted, taking out his second shuriken and spinning it, charging at Iruka. Suddenly a blinding neon orange flash came out of nowhere and crashed into him, sending Mizuki flying through the air and the shuriken off into the trees. Naruto landed neatly and stood with the scroll securely in his hands.

"Not bad for a little punk," Mizuki spat as he got up and turned to look at his attacker.

"If you ever lay a hand on my sensei" Naruto began in a murderous voice, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Such big words; I can completely destroy you with a single move!" Mizuki claimed, raising a fist before him. He seemed confident but Mari knew he wouldn't be for very long.

She hated that she couldn't do anything to help. With Naruto's new jutsu, he'd become even stronger still, she would just get in the way. God damn it! Why couldn't she just be good enough? Why couldn't she be as good as Naruto no matter how hard she worked? Was the band really taking away that much time from training? She never got a chance to continue the thought as the events in the clearing caught her attention once more.

"Take your best shot baka ka! I'll give it back to you a thousand fold!" Naruto raged with shaking fists clenched at his sides.

"Let's see you try! Show me what you can do brat!"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted. With an enormous cloud of smoke hundreds of clones surrounded Mizuki, on the ground and in the trees, all wearing identical confident smirks. Iruka looked around, shocked at what Naruto had done.

"Wha-what is this?" Mizuki cried as he tried backing up. It was no use, he was completely surrounded.

"If you're not coming" One of the clones started.

"Then we're gonna come after you!" Another finished.

Mizuki, distracted by the powerful jutsu Naruto had performed, didn't see Mari's attack coming until it was too late.

"Ember Spitfire Jutsu!" She was taking a risk at blowing her cover so she knew she would have to make this count. She'd be damned if she wouldn't at least _try _to help. Letting the chakra build up inside her chest and throat to an almost painful degree, she made the last seal and began spitting fireballs at the terrified chuunin, one after another. It took all of her control to not let all the chakra she had built up out at once, but seeing the traitor dance on his toes to avoid the attacks was worth it. Once her jutsu was finished Naruto jumped in, a wild grin on his face. Mizuki's shouts echoed throughout the woods for the next half hour.

* * *

"Heh, heh…heh," Naruto smoothly chuckled, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, guess I kinda got carried away. You okay Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, noticing that the whole time he had been sitting against the tree silently.

"Yeah," Their teacher replied. _He's amazing. He wants to surpass all of the Hokage and I'm starting believe he might do it. That jutsu that Mari performed was pretty impressive too, even if it could use some work. There's no telling what the two of them can do if they put their minds to it. _Iruka smiled. "Naruto, come here a minute. I've got something I want to give you."

Mari glanced back at the unconscious Miyuki. It wasn't like she enjoyed hurting people; actually it was quite the opposite. She didn't like unnecessary fighting but Mizuki had messed with one of the people she cared about. She couldn't let him get away with it.

Ocean-blue eyes narrowed at the pathetic sight, Mizuki lying on his back with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth courtesy of a spectacular right hook thrown by one of Naruto's clones. Truth be told, she was a little shaken. How could Mizuki have done that anyway? He was an Academy teacher! _Why_ would he do that?

Mari turned away from the defeated traitor, head hanging in worry. She had a feeling there was something about Mizuki that she didn't know, something important. It didn't add up…

For now though, she'd put that aside. The most important thing about tonight… or this morning really… was that Naruto… had finally graduated!

* * *

Mari, of course, was dead on her feet. Normally she was a morning person, and proud of it, but that was only _after_ she had received a good few hours of sleep.

Once Naruto had been proudly awarded Iruka's old leaf headband and proclaimed a ninja of Konoha, sensei and friends had parted, each returning to their respective homes in expectation of the next day. By the time Mari had gotten back to her house all the way on the other side of the village, she had hell to pay with her dad.

"Where the hell did you go last night?" Her dad stood in the doorway, visible eye narrowed and arms crossed as he leaned coolly against the door frame.

Mari's eyes popped wide open despite her wariness. Her dad just dropped the "h" bomb on her… she was screwed.

"Ah… well you see… Naru-kun came by last night-" Kakashi didn't give her a chance and stalked right up to her, his aura authoritative and intimidating.

"And you two _broke_ into the _Hokage's _house and _stole_ the Sacred Scroll of SEALING? What were you thinking? That's no prank Mari! That's theft! That's a law you broke!"

"But-"

"No 'buts'! You're grounded!" Her jaw hung slack and her eyes were wide in shock. This was totally unfair! Why wouldn't he even listen to her side of the story?

"No band practice, no parties, no anything."

"WHAT? But-!"

"Don't. Argue. With. Me." His eye narrowed to a single dark-grey slit and she nodded numbly.

She and her dad had never fallen out with one another. He was always willing to at least _listen_ to her side, _always._

She looked away before she turned to walk up the stairs, not saying a word. His stare burned shamefully into her back the entire way and she couldn't help but feel that his actions were justified. She had just up and left in the middle of the night only to get wrapped up in a trap set by a traitor sensei and ninja of the village with her trouble-making best friend, Naruto. No doubt Kakashi had been one of the many ninja summoned to track them down that night.

It wasn't right that she was so weak, that she had so little control over her chakra that she couldn't even create adequate fireballs to complete the jutsu sealed away in the secret scroll. It wasn't right that her father should have to worry and get upset over her. She should be stronger, better, Naruto's equal. No one recognized just how strong he really was but her and Hinata. She had to catch up to him… then she would train till she dropped to be like her dad… and make him proud of her again.

* * *

"Mari! It's time for lunch! I made grilled fish and tamagoyaki!" Kakashi called from downstairs. He felt bad about what had happened earlier that day. He'd over-reacted a bit, but what parent wouldn't? When he heard that she had fought with a Chuunin he'd feared for her. She was only barely and Academy graduate while Mizuki – the damn traitor – was a respected Chuunin entrusted with the education of ninja-in-training. Anything could have happened and the news sent him spinning from quiet, trusting speculation to unreasonable, parent-hood induced anxiety over the safety of his daughter.

Muffled taps sounded overhead and moved towards the stairs… but they were coming not from Mari's room, but the room on the other side of the house – the room both of them normally used for indoor training when the weather got bad.

The room itself was a bit small but it was filled with targets, dummies, weights, and other training equipment that could be useful during indoor training. What could she be doing? Training? Hadn't she been up all night already?

"Be right there, Otou!"

'_That's weird… what's wrong with her? She loves grilled fish, she'd normally have been down here by now…'_

He'd always thought it was rather peculiar that Mari chose to not eat any meats but seafood. She claimed that fish and other meat were different. Because she practiced pescetarianism, he'd taken to eating more fish himself than other meats when at home as well.

Just then, Mari trudged downstairs, looking like she'd just taken a swim in the river. She was obviously exhausted if the circles under her eyes were anything to guess by, but Kakashi decided not to ask until she was sitting down and eating. She hadn't come down for breakfast earlier either, which was unhealthy for an aspiring ninja.

"Hey dad," she sighed, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a bottled water. "Thanks for fixing lunch." He smiled at her, glad they were back to normal.

"Well someone had to what with you holing yourself upstairs for the entire morning." She at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"Sorry…I was a bit busy," she added at the end quietly as she grabbed a plate, chopsticks, and sat across from her dad at their small kitchen table for two. She immediately began piling her plate with fish and rolled omelet.

"What were you doing? Installing an indoor pool?" He chuckled, pointing out her sweaty state. This time she blushed. She probably should have gotten washed up before coming downstairs to eat.

"I was training, dad. Sorry to disappoint."

"Oh? I thought you'd gone up there to get some rest. You look like you'll pass out any moment."

"I'm _fine,_ dad. Really, I am. You should get some sleep though. You were out all night."

"Looking for _you,_" he reminded her gently.

She didn't say anything, opting to shovel more fish into her mouth instead, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on her plate. An awkward silence settled over the meal and Kakashi wondered if he'd thought too soon.

"Hey dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you… maybe help me train?"

"Hmm… I don't know...," he pretended to muse. Seeing his daughter look up at him desperately, however, convinced him to give a straightforward answer. "Sure, why not? First, though, you need to get some sleep. Tomorrow you'll be assigned to a team and you want to be your best, not falling asleep from exhaustion."

She nodded gratefully, a small smile gracing her lips. "Thanks, dad."

"Tell you what, the both of us can go rest up and at six I'll wake you up and we'll go to the training grounds for some one-on-one, how about it?"

"Actually… could you teach me chakra control?" Kakashi was a bit taken aback at his daughter's request. She'd never really been particularly interested in chakra control itself before, so what had changed? Was it something that happened last night? Academy students normally didn't even go into chakra control, they just learned the basics of how it was used.

He never said it was a bad idea though. If she wanted to get ahead, she'd have to work hard, but he had no doubt she could do it.


	11. Tree Climbing, Headaches, & Teammates!

Chapter Eleven : Dedicated to my lovely reviewer MoonAbyss!

"You want me to do _what_?"

'_Why does everyone always say that?'_

"Climb trees," he clarified with a lethargic sigh. Mari raised a skeptical eyebrow at him and crossed her arms in disbelief.

"Dad, you sure you didn't bump your head waking up earlier? How the heck is climbing a tree going to help me with chakra control?" He'd lost it, hadn't he? He'd finally lost it.

"Easy, you climb them… without using your hands," he grinned, though you could only tell because of his visible eye.

"Without… using my hands…"

'_He's lost it.'_

Kakashi sighed. "Yes, you'll be climbing trees without using your hands, Mari."

"You're kidding," she dead-panned, unimpressed.

"Am I? Why don't you just stand back and watch?" The brunette watched curiously as her father made a hand sign and walked towards a tree. But he didn't stop there, oh no, he walked straight _up_ it. "It's quite simple actually. I focus a specific amount of chakra at the soles of my feet and this allows me to stick to the surface of the tree for however long I can keep my chakra flow steady. It is said in theory that it is the most difficult to concentrate your chakra at the soles of your feet. Even advanced ninja have difficulty drawing a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in the body," he explained patiently. Seeing he had her attention he continued. "You will be, as I said, climbing trees as I have just shown you. This will give you a much greater control over your chakra and thus a greater advantage in battle."

'_Perfect! If I can master this, then I'll be able to master that fire jutsu I read in the scroll last night. I have to get this! It's the only way to keep up with my superiors and eventually surpass them!'_

"Alright, let's do this!"

Kakashi watched as she took a running start towards the tree, seeming to focus intently on what she was doing till the very last second. She only got two steps up before she crashed back into the ground, landing roughly on her backside. He chuckled as she swore under her breath.

"Language, Mari."

"Uuurrrggg! I'll show you language! I'll master this tonight!"

"Not so fast. This takes time; you aren't just going to master it in one night."

"But-," she tried to argue, looking over to him pleadingly from her place on the ground.

"Just do your best. No one's asking you to kill yourself over it."

Mari kept quiet, simply giving him a curt nod before standing once more, backing up and starting towards the tree again. This time she took out a kunai and began slashing the tree where she stopped before she fell to keep track of her progress. The way she was going at it you would think she was trying to kill herself – or maybe just give herself a concussion. Kakashi decided to let it go for now. There was no arguing with her when she became determined to do something. She probably wouldn't even listen if the Hokage himself ordered her to stop, she was just that stubborn.

'_And that hard-working for sure. She always takes training so seriously. I wish she would let loose and have a little bit of fun with it. She shouldn't make the same mistakes that I did when I was a kid.'_

She certainly wasn't the same though. She had Naruto and Hinata – she was friends with a few other kids too, and Kyo, Ishio, Saya, and Tatsuyoshi were like extended family. She didn't have the same trust issues that he used to, but she was certainly every bit as serious at times like this. Sometimes he worried at how she would have turned out if he hadn't left ANBU and straightened out his views on life before they found each other. _'And maybe I should go ask the Hokage exactly what happened in that clearing. There has to be some kind of reason for her sudden need to be even better than before.'_

So that was exactly what he was going to do.

* * *

"Nnnnggghhh…"

"Wow, Mari, what's wrong with you? Finally realize that you should just give up at being a ninja or what?"

"Shut up, Kiba."

"Touchy this morning, I see."

"If you were smart you'd shut your trap and stop taking my seat, dog breath."

"I don't see your name on it Hatake."

"Ah, whatever. You're not worth it," She growled.

Mari was completely drained of energy. She'd trained until she dropped last night – dropped unconscious that is. Her dad had to drag her back home after coming back from wherever he'd disappeared to that time. She'd gotten a few more hours of sleep, but she was still low on chakra as it hadn't had enough time to replenish yet. As such, she was feeling rather sluggish.

'_At least I know I'm better than __him__,' _she figured, still seething at her classmate. She could probably take the stupid mutt even in this state. She wasn't the second best in the class for nothing. _'Second best,'_ she scoffed, _'not for long.' _She was going to make it to the top of the class – or at least become the best rookie in her year seeing as they'd be assigned their teams today.

Just then Iruka-sensei walked in and told everyone to take their seats while they waited for the remaining students to arrive.

"Better go sit down, Hatake. Wouldn't want to get in trouble, would you?" Kiba taunted from his place next to Hinata. The lavender-eyed girl sitting beside him looked at her friend apologetically but Mari waved it off. She was too tired to start anything anyway. With a sigh, she looked around the class for a seat and saw one open right next to her best friend… and Uchiha Sasuke.

'_Aw, screw it. It's not like the guy is gonna bite my head off unless I bother him.'_

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke wasn't normally one to socialize with anyone let alone girls. Actually, from anyone else's point of view it would seem as though he hated all things female. In reality he just liked avoiding all things female because they tended to have the annoying habit of fawning over him twenty-four-seven. The only girls in the entire Academy who didn't act like his personal lovesick puppies were Hyuuga Hinata and Hatake Mari. So when one Hatake Mari took the seat next to him he was honestly momentarily surprised that she would do so.

Well, until he saw the idiotic blonde sitting on her other side. Didn't he fail the test? What was that loser doing here anyway?

"Hey Naru-kun," Mari murmured tiredly to her blonde friend, placing her chin in the palm of her hand to keep her head propped up.

"Wow, Mari-chan, you look terrible!" came his blunt reply.

"Gee… thanks," she drawled sarcastically, giving him a warning look out of the corner of her eyes. Naruto just grinned sheepishly and gave a small chuckle.

It was then that people began noticing the commotion in the hallway.

'_What the hell? Is a herd of elephants having a foot race or something?' _Mari thought.

_**SHHHKKK!**_

"I'm first!" Two voices chorused.

"I won again, Sakura!" The annoying sound of one Yamanaka Ino boasted from the now open doorway.

"Give it up!" The pink-haired girl countered with venom. "I had to look back to see you! My toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead!"

'_You have got to be kidding me. Are they really doing this so early in the morning?' _Mari didn't really need to ask herself that, either. Of _course_ they were having an extremely loud and annoying argument first thing in the morning. They almost always did.

"Have you always been this delusional?" Ino mocked, hands on her hips in the famous "I'm totally better than you and you know it" pose.

Mari rolled her eyes and turned back around, letting her head drop to the table in front of her with a satisfying thud.

"Hey, whoa, where are you going?" Ino called after her rival as she suddenly took off.

"Hi Sakura, what's up?" Naruto said happily as the pinkette ran over to his desk.

'_Oh please kami-sama; please tell me she is __not__ coming over here.'_

Oh, but of course she was. Mari was sitting next to _Sasuke_ after all.

'_Why the hell did I choose this seat? I could be sitting with Shikamaru or something, nice and safe from this guy's insane fan-girls! But no, I just __had__ to come and sit with my best buddy - figures.'_

"MOVE IT!"

**THUD!**

"Hey, Hatake-san, get up so I can talk to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura at least _tried_ to sound nice when asking. The majority of the girls acknowledged Mari's apparent lack of interest in their beloved Sasuke so they didn't view her as much of a threat.

"Nnnnggg! Give a girl a break will yah? You can talk perfectly fine over my freakin' head. It's on a table. Deal with it!" the brunette mumbled past her face full of table, rather uncharacteristically too. Then again, no one normally saw her so tired. She became cranky when she was tired. She couldn't even will herself to lift her head at this point. "An' be nice to Naru-kun. All he did was say hi."

Unknown to Mari, Sakura's face contorted into barely suppressed rage momentarily before her sickeningly sweet mask returned as she instead addressed Sasuke.

"Uh, good morning, Sasuke, mind if I sit next to you?"

Silence prompted Mari to grudgingly lift her head from its oh-so-comfy place on the rock hard desk. Her sapphire blue eyes locked onto Sakura's lighter, emerald green ones with annoyance.

"Oh yeah, and where will I go? In case you haven't noticed, I'm in the only seat that's next to him."

"There are plenty of other seats, Hatake-san!" Sakura indicated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, go sit in one of them and leave me in peace, will ya? I'm not in a good mood in case you haven't noticed."

"Why would Sasuke-kun want to sit next to _you_?" Sakura spat.

"Back off forehead, _I'm _sitting next to Sasuke," Ino announced, grabbing Sakura by the arm before the pinkette could make a move to force Mari from her seat.

"I was here first!" the other griped.

"I walked into the classroom before you did! Everybody saw it!" Her counter-part claimed.

"Dream on!"

"Actually, I got here before either of you," some random girl said, walking up to the bickering pair.

Mari sweat-dropped and clutched her aching head in her hands. Why the hell did the Uchiha have to be so freakin' popular? All this "Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun!" was giving her a headache! "What a load of morons," she muttered.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She stood up to her full height and a menacing aura surrounded her. All the girls fell silent at the sound of her chair scraping across the floor.

"OI! Would you all just shut the hell up? Go get some lives while you're at it! It's eight o' clock in the morning and I didn't get to sleep until four and now I have a head-ache the size of the Hokage Monument! So help me god, if you don't leave the poor guy the fuck alone, and me by freakin' association there _will_ be hell to pay! Got it? It's just a freaking seat! Who the hell cares whether you sit next to Uchiha-san! This won't be the last time you'll ever see him, so just get lost already!"

Sasuke glanced over once more during Mari's infuriated speech and couldn't help but silently agree. He knew her words would likely do no good though.

'_They're so clueless,'_ he thought monotonously.

* * *

In the center of the village in the Hokage's office at the top of the Hokage Tower stood a group of Jounin around, well, the Hokage.

The Hokage's crystal ball was currently fixated of the image of a young raven-haired boy sitting at his desk at Konoha's Ninja Academy. Said raven-haired boy was one Uchiha Sasuke.

"Most promising new student Uchiha Sasuke, is that him?" a particular silver-haired Jounin inquired in his deep, smooth voice.

"Yes, he's the one," The Hokage confirmed.

"He's the only survivor left of the Uchiha clan," a female ninja spoke up. She had black hair and flame colored eyes that gave her a sharp yet beautiful look.

The Hokage looked up at the two of them from under his eyebrows. "That's right."

"Uzumaki Naruto, huh?" The silver-haired ninja mused as the focus of the crystal ball changed to show an angered young boy in a neon orange outfit sitting on the ground. They watched as a black and green clothed figure shifted at the edge of the scene and the crystal ball refocused once more on a pretty, but seemingly angry brunette.

"Isn't that your daughter?" The woman directed towards her comrade.

"I do believe it is."

* * *

Yeah so maybe what Naruto was doing might be considered brave by some people. Mari was honestly proud of him, what with him being generally disliked by their other classmates and all. The fan girls thought it was rude and an insult. Still, Naruto _did_ have guts to do what he was doing. And what was that you may ask? He was _glaring_ at Uchiha. But no, not just _glaring_. He was on Uchiha's _desk_ and glaring with their faces about _two inches apart_. Sasuke was glaring back. Her dear friend Karma was about to interrupt any moment now, she was sure. Call her crazy, call her abnormal, _she_ called it intuition and there's never been a time when it's failed her.

"Hey, Naruto! Stop _glaring _at Sasuke!" Sakura demanded angrily. When Naruto had leapt onto the desk, all the attention had been adverted away from Mari and onto him. Her head was still throbbing painfully as she slumped back down into her seat.

Both boys seemed to be ignoring the girls as their glare-off intensified. Their aura's seemed to clash so intensely that the air seemed to charge up with electricity. Chattering, yelling, and Sasuke cheering rippled through the small crowd of girls as they realized he had accepted Naruto's "challenge." Mari would have cheered too if her head didn't feel like it would explode so she settled for silently egging Naruto on the best she could.

It all happened so quickly that if anyone had blinked they would have missed it.

One second Naruto was crouching on the desk, and the next some random guy had bumped him from behind and…

"Oh… my… god…," honestly that was all Mari was capable of saying. She wasn't sure whether she should be sick or laugh her ass off. It wasn't every day that you got to see your best friend and the school's antisocial heartthrob _kiss._

"EEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sakura screeched just as the two boys broke apart and started spitting and wiping their mouths on their sleeves in disgust. That was when the brunette started simultaneously laughing and groaning as her head throbbed more fiercely than before.

"I'll get you Naruto!" Sasuke hissed as he tried to get every trace of the kiss off his lips.

"Naruto," Sakura began in a warning tone, an irk mark on her forehead. "You. Are. So. DEAD."

Approximately three seconds later a hoard of fan-girls would attempt to ruin Naru-kun's face. It was a day Mari would never forget… and an event that would make its way permanently into her arsenal of blackmail.

Unknown to the entirety of the school, the Hokage and Jounin were watching everything.

"As usual Naruto is right in the middle of some kind of trouble," the Sandaime narrated. The others murmured in agreement. Naruto was always in trouble. If everything else seemed like it was going wrong one day, you could always count on Naruto to cause some kind of mischief.

* * *

"As of today you are all ninja. To get here you've faced difficult trials and hardships, but that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only Genin - first level ninjas. All the Genin will be grouped into three man squads and two four man squads seeing as we have an uneven number of students this year. Each squad will be led by a Jounin-an elite ninja." Iruka sensei explained as he stood before his graduating class.

One Hatake Mari glanced over at her best friend worriedly. She'd had to step in and save Naruto from yet another mess he'd gotten himself into but he'd still suffered plenty of damage by the hands of Sasuke's infuriated fan-girls by the time she had gotten to him. The bruises were hardly noticeable at least but he looked like he was in a lot of pain from the way he was slouching in his seat.

Sakura, who still wanted to be as close to "her Sasuke-kun" as possible, had pulled up a chair and made everyone scoot over so she could join our row. Apparently she didn't want to risk sitting by Mari while she was still in a bad mood. The brunette was actually glad for it. She didn't know how long she could take being in that girl's presence without killing herself.

"Well someone's got to be in Sasuke's group. I wonder who?" Ino taunted her ex-best friend from the seat behind the irritated Hatake.

'_Dear god, do they ever just give it up?'_

The answer was an obvious _no_.

"I don't know," Sakura replied, sending Ino a glare.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads," Iruka-sensei continued, oblivious to the small side conversations that were going on. Or perhaps he was so used to it that after all these years he decided to ignore it. Mari didn't really know. She also really didn't care. Her lack of caring was beginning to lull her to sleep…

"Squad Seven, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hatake Mari," Iruka announced after a few minutes of reading off the other teams. _That_ woke her up.

'_Wait a second, __I'm__ on a four man squad? Why am __I__ on a four man squad? With that sniveling Sakura no less. At least Naruto's on my team, but…'_

Mari cast a mournful glance at her best friend who gazed back just as sorrowfully. The two of them had been hoping that they would be on the same team for years, Mari and Hinata had. All the sudden Mari's heart began to ache at the thought of not seeing the girl she'd grown up with every day – her sister. They would no doubt be kept busy with missions and training constantly. How often would they get to hang out anymore – if at all? They wouldn't grow apart… would they?

She didn't want that to happen.

"Next, Squad Eight, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame," Iruka listed off. Hinata and Mari broke eye contact, but only after Mari gave the other girl a reassuring smile. Hinata shakily returned it. In Mari's eyes, Hinata was practically on her own. Kiba was a loud-mouthed, egotistical idiot and Shino… well he didn't really say much… or do much for that matter. She never got to know the guy. All she ever saw him do was just… kinda… sit there… doing nothing. He could have been sleeping through all their classes for all she knew, but she somehow doubted it.

"Ugh! How did you get in his group?" Ino demanded Sakura. Sakura turned in her seat and smirked at Ino evilly, giving her a peace sign with an obviously delighted, mocking gleam in her eye.

"I don't get it, what do you see in a guy like that?" Shikamaru asked from his place next to Ino. "He's not so special."

'_Thank you Shikamaru! He's just a guy – and technically my rival but eh, I don't take the competition to a personal level.'_

"You are so beyond clueless Shikamaru. Don't you get it?" Ino asked, annoyed.

"No I don't get it, 'cause I'm not a girl."

Ino sighed as though she were amused. "You are so full of yourself. Jealousy's a terrible thing. I'd hate to be on your squad."

"Now squad ten," Iruka-sensei went on. Did he seriously not hear everything that went on in his class or does he just not care whether they were paying attention? "Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara-,"

"Ha! Did you say something about hating to be on my squad?" Shikamaru scoffed.

"Ugh!" Ino replied smartly.

'_So articulate isn't she?'_

"And Chouji Akimichi," Iruka finished.

'_At least those two got to stay together,'_ Mari thought wistfully, knowing how close the lazy Nara and rotund Akimichi were.

"Those are all the squads."

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto spoke up, standing from his seat. "Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke?"

'_Kill me, Kami-sama. Just kill me now. I don't want to have to deal with fan-girls or over-competitive guys. I have a headache. I wanna take a nap, not listen to my teammates argue not even one minute after we were grouped together.'_

"Sasuke had one of the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores. To create a balanced group we put the best students with the worst student," Iruka pointed out reluctantly. Naruto deflated a bit as the class laughed at his expense. Mari felt bad for him. She knew he had it in him to be the best; he was just having a hard time because of how everyone treated him. Only three people believed in his dream: she, Hinata, and Iruka-sensei.

"Just make sure you don't get in my way, _loser,"_ Sasuke finally spoke up, not even bothering to glance at the indignant blonde. Mari turned to him.

"That was uncalled for, Uchiha-san," she warned under her breath. He glanced at her impassively but otherwise didn't respond.

"Hey, what did you say?" Naruto demanded, growling angrily.

"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke returned monotonously, sparing another glance at Mari who narrowed her eyes at him lethally.

"Knock it off, Naruto! Sit down!" Sakura reprimanded him from his other side. Mari sent a glare at her as well, causing the pinkette to clear her throat nervously.

"Don't worry, Naru-kun. We're in this together, ne?" The brunette finally spoke up, trying to sound comforting despite her raging headache. Naruto didn't look very happy but nodded anyway and took his seat.

Iruka took the moment of silence to speak again. "Ahem! After lunch you'll meet your new Jounin teachers. Until then, class dismissed!"

…

'_I'm taking a nap.'_

That was exactly what she did.

* * *

'_Finally, some peace and quiet. Still, I'm going to miss them. This will be the last time I will ever see them as my students. They're all grown up now,' _One brown-eyed, brunette teacher thought nostalgically, kicking his feet up onto his desk and leaning back in his seat. The moment he closed his eyes to relax, however, he heard a soft noise that sounded a lot like mewling.

'_Huh? What's-, wait, why is Mari still here? Is she… sleeping?'_

That was exactly what she was doing. The noise he had heard was actually her soft snoring. She was out cold in the seat she had been sitting at during class, slouched over the desk and blissfully unaware of the rest of the world and its problems.

'_Poor kid, wonder what's got her so tired out? Was Kakashi training her late again? The night before the team assignments no less? I'll have to talk to him about her sleeping habits. She's going to need all the rest she can get if she'll be completing missions from now on.'_

With a sigh Umino Iruka stood, grasping his bento and heading to the teachers' lounge where he could eat without disturbing his student's rest.

* * *

**Once again, this chapter was written especially for my awesome reviewer MoonAbyss!**

**I'd like to thank all of you though, for reviewing, favoriting, and alerting my story. It really means a lot to me! I know I've been slow on the updates but my excuse is Latin class, Japanese class, and remodeling my bedroom to this awesome semi-modern Japanese style. Please keep reviewing! Who knows, they next chapter could be dedicated to YOU!~**

***glomps MoonAbyss* Thank you so much! You're review made me cry tears of joy!**


	12. Meeting Senseis and Making Decisions

^_^ You guys love me right? 'Cause I'm updating so fast? I'm already starting the next chapter too! I may not get to work on it tomorrow 'cause I'm painting my bedroom (it's so cool, nya!) but I'll work super hard on it! Dattebayo!

Thanks to BloodColoredRose, Tough chick, RandomNinja239, localunaty0117 (HIIIIII LIL SISTAH!), Alpenwolf, judeceant, and rekiandmari (glomps) for all teh awesome reviews and alerts and favorites! You guys inspire my writing!

NOTE!

"Normal Sakura"

'Inner Sakura'

Chapter Twelve

"He's late," Naruto griped for the thousandth time.

Team Seven were currently the only ones left in the classroom, waiting for their sensei to arrive. Mari had already awoken and was feeling much more level-headed now that she'd gotten a bit more rest. It showed in the lethargic way she sat and the amused twinkle in her eye as she watched Naruto get wound up over their late sensei.

Naruto was standing with his head out the classroom door, looking back and forth down the hallway. Sasuke was seated beside her – probably so Sakura wouldn't bother him, and Sakura was leaning against the next desk over, watching Naruto act like a little kid.

"Naruto, just sit down!" the pinkette told him, getting annoyed with his antics.

"I don't want to! How come our teacher's the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll! Believe it! The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something and Iruka-sensei's gone too."

"I know, okay?" Sakura sighed. She was probably as annoyed at their sensei's lateness as he was, Mari guessed.

"Ah, I know why he's late. I should have guessed this would happen," Mari sighed under her breath. Her classmates looked to her in surprise. She'd caught their interest.

"Eh, how's that Mari-chan? Why's he late?" Naruto questioned eagerly, turning to her. Sakura scoffed and spoke up before the brunette girl could even open her mouth.

"Yeah right. How could you possibly know? We've been stuck in here for hours."

"Exactly," Mari hummed. They watched her curiously as she stood up from her seat, her chair scraping lightly against the floor. "You'll find out soon enough. I'll be back."

Hey, wait a second, where are you going?" Sakura called after her. Mari stopped in the doorway and looked back, quirking an amused eyebrow.

"The little kunoichi's room," was all she said. With that she left, closing the door behind her.

A moment passed in silence before it was broken by the sounds of a chair clunking on the floor and shuffling movements.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sakura asked Naruto incredulously as he balanced on a chair and stuck a chalk eraser in the door, closing it enough so the eraser was held in place near the top. She walked up to the chuckling blonde, clearly agitated.

"Naruto!"

"That's what he gets for coming late! Surprise!" Naruto justified, leaping of the chair and moving it back to where he got it.

Sakura put her hands on her hips. "You're asking for trouble, you know you shouldn't do that. Besides, what if Mari comes back?" 'CHA! I love stuff like this!' Inner Sakura cheered.

"Aw, Mari-chan would laugh it off. She thinks this kind of stuff is funny! Believe it!"

"Come on," Sasuke spoke up. "Our teacher's a Jounin, an elite ninja. You think he'd fall for that?"

"Yeah, Sasuke's right," Sakura agreed. "You're so clueless, Naruto!"

A small tap sounded, drawing their attention back to the door which was opened by a gloved hand.

_Shhhhkk-plunk-clunk._

The eraser fell to the floor and the figure halted, its face momentarily obscured by the white chalk dust that had lifted into the air when the eraser had thumped its head.

Before them stood a masked man in long, dark blue Shinobi pants, a long sleeved, dark blue shirt, standard Shinobi sandals, and a green Jounin vest. His hair was silver and only his right eye was visible due to his hatai-ate being pulled over the left one in a crooked fashion.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Naruto burst out, pointing at the man and throwing his head back in hilarity. "I got him! He totally fell for it! Heheheheh!"

Sakura looked mortified and instantly went about trying to fix the situation. "I'm sorry sensei! I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen! I'd never do anything like that!" Or maybe she was just trying to protect her own hide.

'Perfect shot!' Inner Sakura squealed in delight, giving a double-thumbs up.

'He actually fell for that cheap trick? Is this guy really a Jounin?' Sasuke wondered, watching as their sensei picked the eraser up and looked from it to them in a manner that seemed almost familiar somehow.

"Hmm, how can I put this?" The Jounin pretended to wonder, bringing a hand to his chin as though in deep thought. "My first impression of this group, you're a bunch of idiots." Gloom-lines fell heavily over the three of them, only to be lifted a second later when a clear voice rang out from behind their sensei.

"Kami-sama, what did they do this time?" It was Mari, come back from the restroom.

Their sensei turned and chuckled, his movement giving the others a view of her standing just outside the doorway.

"Glad to see you've finally joined us. Where did you get off to?"

"I had to use the bathroom for a moment. You know, after the first hour, I kind of expected it would be you. Welcome to the team, dad!"

Her teammates did a double take.

"_**DAD?**_"

* * *

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves? One at a time." Their sensei – and Mari's dad – spoke up.

The team was now on the roof together. The sensei was leaning against the metal railing around the edge and the four students were seated on the steps in front of him. On the way up Naruto and Sakura had been trying to interrogate Mari about her father, wondering why they'd never seen him before. Naruto seemed a bit hurt at first.

*Flashback*

"_What are you talking about, Naruto. You've met him before! You've been to my house millions of times!" Mari exclaimed._

"_I've never seen him! Believe it!"_

"_That's weird. It's not like he hasn't been there… well Kashi-tou will be Kashi-tou. He probably figured he'd be assigned to my team or something and figured he'd rather be all mysterious."_

*Flashback*

Needless to say, even Sasuke was paying her more mind, wondering whether she'd give anything away about their evasive teacher. She didn't, merely shrugging to all of their questions or smirking at their demands. So now they sat, getting ready to introduce themselves.

"Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?" Sakura inquired, completely clueless.

"What you'd normally say when you meet someone I suppose," Mari answered. "Your name and a few things about yourself."

"Yeah, but like what?"

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies… things like that," The silver-haired Jounin replied. The three of them momentarily paused at his tone of voice which seemed familiar. Sasuke was the only one that put two and two together and realized that Mari and her father sounded somewhat alike. They obviously weren't related, but the both of them seemed to share a lot of the same mannerisms such as the way they crossed their arms – as their sensei was doing at that moment – or the way they walked with long, lilting strides.

"Why don't you tell us first? I mean before we talk, tell us about you so we see how it's supposed to work," Naruto suggested.

"Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that." Mari held back a snicker while her teammates looked up in surprise. "My dreams for the future… I never really thought about it. As for hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

"That was totally useless, all he really told us was his name," Sakura muttered. Naruto made a noise in agreement.

"Okay, your turn," Kakashi elicited. "You on the right, you first."

"Dattebayo! I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like instant ramen in a cup and I _really_ like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody! Somebody important!" Naruto explained, fiddling with his headband.

Kakashi glanced to Mari who was grinning sheepishly and returned his look. She knew he was wondering at Naruto's weird obsession with ramen, but she thought it was kinda cute the way he acted whenever someone got him ramen or even mentioned it for that matter – in a brother-sister way of course.

'_Well… he's grown up in a very interesting way,'_ The Jounin thought, looking back over to the hyperactive blonde.

"Alright, next," he said out loud, looking to Sakura. She took the cue and began speaking.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. What I like… uh… I mean the person I like is…," she giggled nervously and looked down at her feet. Mari raised a skeptical eyebrow at the girl and finished her sentence for her under her breath.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura didn't seem to notice, but Kakashi did.

"Uh… my hobby is… uh…" Sakura trailed off again and didn't finish her sentence as she glanced over to Sasuke who, Mari guessed, was either so deep in thought he wasn't hearing a thing she was saying, was already dead (which might explain his expression), or was wishing he was (which would also explain his expression). With a sigh, she mumbled the answer again.

"Stalking Sasuke." This time Sakura heard her and shot her a look.

"My dream for the future is –," she squealed in excitement and fan-girl-ish-ness.

"Marrying Sasuke and having little pink-haired Uchihas." Sasuke glanced over to Mari at that point, his face surprisingly blank still. She looked back, expecting him to tell her to shut up, but instead he just said –

"Not happening."

She cracked up. Sakura glared with the intensity of a million burning suns.

"…and? What do you hate?" Kakashi prompted, not impressed so far.

"NARUTO!" she screeched before turning Mari. "And-," but on a second though she shut up, noticing Mari's daring grin. No way in hell was she going to tango with the second best fighter in the class. "Uh, never mind."

'_Girls like her are more interested in boys than in ninja training.'_

"Why don't you go next, Mari?" Kakashi suggested, hoping to move on to someone a bit more… promising.

"Ne? Oh, why not?" She conceded. "My name is Hatake Mari. I like some things and I dislike others. My dreams for the future are too difficult for me to bother explaining, and as for hobbies… I suppose I have quite a few." Naruto's jaw dropped.

"NO WAY, MARI-CHAN~! That's cheating!"

"Oh? Did I forget to mention something?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, no," Sakura grumbled sarcastically, "Only _all_ of it." Mari pretended not to hear her and instead exchanged amused glances with her dad. She prided herself in being like him. He was her hero after all.

"Alright, last one," Kakashi continued. Everyone looked to Sasuke to see what he had to say. A small, dramatic silence passed before he spoke, building up the suspense and holding their attention.

"My name… is Uchiha Sasuke. I _hate_ a lot of things… and I don't particularly _like_ anything. What I have is not a dream, because I _will_ make it a reality. I will restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."

Dramatic silence…

Naruto was honestly a bit freaked out. _'Gee, uh, I hope he doesn't mean me.'_

'_Sasuke is so __hot__!'_ Sakura thought dreamily.

'_Just as I thought,'_ Kakashi's own convictions were confirmed.

All that was going through Mari's mind was: _'Oh my Kami-sama, why the heck do I think he sounds cool while he's saying that? Something's wrong with me! I think I have midnight sun madness! … I wonder who he wants to destroy. Is it his brother? I mean, that would be understandable I guess. All I know is that his brother killed their entire family… I hope he looks into that before doing anything crazy, there's just no way someone up and kills their family for no reason._

…

_Isn't he a little… young… to restore his clan?'_

"Good," Kakashi finalized, "you're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow.

"What kinda mission are we going to have?" Naruto implored, excited about going on his first mission.

"It's a task that the four of us will do together," Kakashi intoned.

"What, what, what, what?"

"A survival exercise."

Now even Mari was confused.

Mari knew that her dad had been offered teams before and he'd always come back after one day and turned them down, saying that they weren't worthy of being Shinobi. There was some kind of test, but she never knew what it was… just that it had to do with these two silver bells that he always took with him when he went to meet up with them.

"Huh? Survival exercise?" Naruto questioned incredulously.

"_I_ thought we were supposed to have missions, not more practice. We already did this stuff at the Academy, that's how we got here!"

"This is not like your previous training," Kakashi assured them.

'_So it __is__ his test… a survival exercise? There's something more to this…'_

"So, uh, so, uh, what kind of training is it then?" Naruto spoke up again. Kakashi chuckled a chuckle that told them that whatever he wasn't telling them wasn't good for them at all.

"Hey, hold on, that's a normal question. What's so funny?" Sakura wondered suspiciously.

"Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it~," he replied in a sing-song voice. Mari smiled despite herself.

"From the twenty-nine graduates who just came here, only ten will actually be accepted as Genin. The other nineteen will be weeded out and sent back to the Academy. In other words, this is a make-it-or-break-it, pass/fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-five percent."

They all looked shocked.

"See? Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't like it?"

Naruto started yelling protests the moment he recovered from the shock. "That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Dattebayo! What was that graduation test for anyway?"

Mari silently agreed. This seemed really unfair to those who would fail the second exam.

"Oh that, that was just to select candidates who _might_ become Genin, or not."

"WHAT?"

"That's how it is. _I_ decided whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five a.m. and bring your ninja gear." All four Genin lapsed into thought and Kakashi noticed they all looked more determined than before, even the boy-obsessed Sakura. "That's it, you're dismissed. Oh, tomorrow you better skip breakfast or else… you'll puke."

* * *

Later that afternoon, after picking up groceries at the market, Mari and her dad returned home.

"Hey, uh, Kashi-tou?" the blue-eyed girl mumbled as she put away the crab meat in their fridge.

"Hm?"

"Did you mean what you said about not eating breakfast?" She looked over at where he was putting the rice into a container. He met her eyes, hearing the nerves in her voice alone.

"That's for you to decide. I can't these decisions for you. As a ninja, you have to be able to make your own decisions and determine what is easy and what is right. As team leader I warned you that you might throw up and suggested that you didn't eat breakfast, but you are the one that must make the decision."

She nodded understandingly. It would be unfair if she had some kind of advantage over her teammates if he told her answers to everything.

As she continued unpacking the groceries, Mari let herself think about the pros and cons. While her dad was much more experienced than herself, and probably right about throwing up, was not eating breakfast the answer? Surely that would just make it harder on her. Throwing up wasn't pleasant, but no one could function properly on an empty stomach. What exactly were they going to be doing tomorrow anyway? What could be so difficult?

That night, after dinner, Mari headed straight upstairs to make sure she got plenty of sleep for the test tomorrow. The next morning, she woke up, got ready, went straight to the fridge, fixed herself a bit of cold rice and fruit, and ate it right in front of her dad to see what his reaction was. He'd looked straight at her for a moment before turning back to reading the newspaper. Only when he stood to leave the room did he muss up her hair.

She then knew that she had made the right decision.

With nothing left to do, she rinsed out her bowl and grabbed her things before heading out to meet her teammates, knowing her dad wouldn't be there for maybe another three hours. Before she left she grabbed a few apples and left over rice balls and put them in her bag for her teammates. Now all she had to do was convince them to eat.

* * *

Please review and I'll love you forever and ever and ever and-

*Naruto clamps a hand over her mouth*

Sasuke: Shut up.

Sakura: What Sasuke said!

*Licks Naruto's hand so he lets go*

Me: Why don't you grow a spine and stop pretending to agree with everything Sasuke says, huh? Stupid fan-girl.

Naruto: Reviews are better than Mari-chan beating Sakura up!

Me: *grins evilly* Really Naru-kun? I tend to think otherwise. Hey, Sakura, Sasuke says he wantS to have pink-haired Uchihas with you!

Sasuke: O.O Hell. No.

Me: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *clears throat* Sorry Uchiha-san, I just like torturing her.

Sasuke: -.- Hn. Just R&R.


	13. Grudges, Tests, and Butts?

DON'T EAT ME! *dives into a box under a rock under the ground in a cement cell surrounded by an underwater sea of man-eating sharks inside a giant cave guarded at the entrances by an army of the undead*

*Wipes imaginary sweat from her brow* Whew! I'm safe!

Hey everyone, I'm really sorry I haven't updated in ... seven? eight months? I get it, I'm a totally lame writer who deserves to die. *hangs head* And no joke, I'm seriously sorry. Of course, I'm gonna be totally up front and use a series of possibly legit excuses to hopefully avoid being maimed and burned by your pitchforks and torches. So to cut to the chase, I'll list everything that's kept me from writing real quick.

Firstly, I had to help my grandparents (my sickly grandparents mind you) move over the summer which SERIOUSLY cut back on my writing. I would've been so much farther by the end of summer if I didn't help out, but I love them, ya know? I couldn't turn them down. They escaped to the country with my uncle to live in relative peace.

Secondly, school wants to murder me. No joke. Hands down, straight out, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, legit truth. Now I can't say I'm doing bad in school, because I'm not, but with band, swim team, and various other clubs... well let's just say I couldn't catch a break.

Thirdly... I'm skipping my last two years of high school. I'm a sophomore right now, yeah. Next year I'll be a freshman in college. As such, I've had to work my ass of in school to tie loose ends, meet requirements, and rearrange my priorities.

So yes, I am EXTREMELY sorry that I haven't been able to update! That doesn't mean I haven't been planning, thinking and editing ideas though. Trust me, ask my friend Reki(Reki and Mari is her screen name when she comments on my story if you wanna look for her) and she'll tell you... I write out chapter plans in the programming section of my graphing calculator. *serious face* And don't laugh! Or judge! A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...

Okay, so I ran out of paper... and I know how to draw cool pictures (just wait till I learn how to draw Naruto on it!)... *hangs her head in shame* Makes me feel like a nerd... wait... I am a nerd *looks at second two excuses* damn...

Just know that I haven't given up on this story and NEVER WILL! My mind is on this every spare chance I get!

Also, I apologize ahead of time if this chapter is complete and utter crap. I feel my muse starting to come back but I'm a bit out of practice! Please bear with me!

Much love, hugs, and chocolate chip cookies~

~Mari

**This chapter is dedicated to: BlackFoxIsBoss, my awesome reviewer who practically made me cry from overdose on kindness... and because death threats are probably the best form of motivation to drop my homework and work on the story. 3**

Chapter Thirteen

It was dawn when Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura arrived at Training Grounds Seven. The sun was just a faint yellow highlight on the horizon beyond the trees and the sky was slowly lighting from its midnight blue to a faint purple hue at the edges. Sakura greeted Sasuke sleepily but cheerfully before sitting on the ground to wait. Apparently even _she_ couldn't fan-girl while half asleep. Naruto simply dropped to the ground to take a nap, using his bag as a pillow. As for Sasuke, he remained standing, wide awake and moody as usual. He didn't even bother acknowledging his bright-haired teammates in favor of watching the path that disappeared into the dark tree line, waiting for his final teammate and sensei to arrive.

After an hour Naruto was fast asleep and Sakura was bored and impatient. Sasuke stood unmoving and glaring off into space. All three of them had no idea that only just at that moment, their brunette teammate was _just_ waking up. Mari had no clue that the morning would prove to be anything but happy.

'_**It started with Sasuke. I swear.'**_

"Hey guys!" It was still early morning when Mari arrived at the training grounds. She was only-

"HEY! YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto shouted, jumping up from where he had been seated at the ground to point an accusing finger straight at her face. Mari froze in mid-step to avoid running into the offending appendage which was already hovering dangerously close to her nose.

"Heheh… now, now, Naru-kun, don't do anything you'll regret," she chuckled nervously, only half-joking. Naruto's glare wasn't really genuine; he was more annoyed than anything that she was late like her father had been yesterday.

"No way! Why were you late, Mari-chan? And where's that lazy dad of yours? He better be around here!" He yelled grumpily. Mari grimaced at the volume of his voice but otherwise ignored it, opting for calming him down. Before she could say anything, however, Sakura spoke up.

"Yeah, what's up with that? Why are you here without your dad? And why are you almost two hours late?"

"Two hours? Would you look at that? Time sure does fly," Mari tried playing it off as Sakura glared at her. The brunette casually slid around Naruto's still-pointing finger and slung an arm over her best guy-friend's shoulder. "If you guys really want to know, Kashi-tou ran into a black cat. Fortunately for me, I'd already passed when it crossed his path, but turns out he had to take the long way around, leaving me to go on. Brave soul, really, facing such bad luck in the face like that. Don't know what I would have done in his position," she rambled, trying to distract them.

"What? That's a load of bull, Mari-chan, and you know it! Besides, don't think you're getting away with being late! What held _you_ up, huh?" Naruto challenged her logic. Wow, Naruto's challenging logic!

"Well you see –,"

"Don't even bother," Sakura huffed, taking up Naruto's accusing finger-pointing (which by this time he had sense to stop) only her other hand was settled on her hip in a no-nonsense fashion. "Just admit that you and our sensei are two lazy losers and you woke up late!"

Mari's expression immediately contorted into a dark one. Her bangs shadowed her eyes in complete darkness and the scowl set on her face was fierce. _NO ONE_ insulted her dad. "Care to repeat that bubblegum-head?"

Sakura winced and dropped her arm immediately, looking a bit scared.

'_Heh, she's such a wimp. Can't even stick up for herself,' _Mari thought. She actually felt a bit bad for the girl. She had brains, but her boy-crazy attitude blinded her to using them most of the time.

"Well, Kashi-tou probably won't be here for a while, so we'll just have to wait. In the meantime, I brought breakfast!" Her mood switched so fast it even gave the brooding Sasuke whiplash.

"Ne? Breakfast? But Kakashi-sensei said-," Naruto started uneasily, watching as Mari crouched down to pull the food out of her backpack.

"Sensei said, shmensei said. Who cares what he said? _I_ for one already ate breakfast. I'd rather throw up than fight on an empty stomach. It'd just hold me back." Mari then looked up at them, onigiri and apples in hand. "Alright, who wants some?"

The three of them stayed silent, looking at her with mixed expressions – well Sasuke looked emotionless but she could tell he was thinking it over. When the silence continued, only broken by an early morning breeze rustling the leaves on the trees, Mari sweatdropped.

"What? Think I poisoned it or something?"

"Hn."

"Now that's just insulting," she huffed, crossing her arms over her knees and looking genuinely put out. Naruto chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck while the Uchiha raised an eyebrow at her behavior before turning away to glare at the trees at the edge of the clearing once more.

"Aw, it's not that, Mari-chan! ~" Naruto tried to reassure her, falling for her upset façade, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her as he crouched down next to her. Sakura watched as Sasuke turned to look over at their two teammates on the ground and noticed his eyes lock disapprovingly on the hand Naruto had on Mari's shoulder. She didn't understand where his attitude came from though.

"Tch, I don't need to eat to fight well," Sasuke muttered under his breath. Apparently Naruto had heard him because he immediately stood and growled at the dark-haired boy.

'_**And then Naruto had dragged his pride into the matter.'**_

"Grrrrrr! I won't lose to you, Sasuke! I can go a whole _week_ without eating food and _still_ beat your ass!"

"Shut up, Naruto! You can't even beat Sasuke-kun _now!_ What makes you think you'd beat him if you starved yourself to death?" Sakura accused, trying to defend her "Sasuke-kun." She was quite conveniently forgetting that she normally opted to all but starve herself to keep "her figure" for her "Sasuke-kun."

"Hey! Hey! Guys! Chill out!" Mari advised. Sakura's gaze snapped to her brunette teammate, her eyes blazing at what she took to be Mari trying to order everyone around.

'_**Of course, Sakura just had to go and make everything worse.'**_

"You know what? I bet you really didn't eat breakfast," Sakura claimed, crossing her arms with an air of importance as she refused to even look at Mari. "I bet you're just trying to make us weaker for whatever it is that we have to do, so you'll get the best scores!"

Mari looked pissed. "_Excuse me?" _Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she ground the words out from behind clenched teach. "You think I'm that _low_ that I'd do that for no good reason?"

"You know what?" The ocean-eyed girl huffed, immediately straightening up and removing the scowl from her face in favor of a disapproving frown. "Forget it. A girl tries to do something nice and this is what she gets? Like I care. Go ahead, don't eat. We'll see who does better." She stormed off from the direction she had come, leaving her bag next to Naruto's.

Her teammates didn't see her until a few hours later, seemingly in a much better mood though the awkward situation was far from forgotten. Really, Mari just decided to ignore Sakura and Sasuke. She couldn't really stay upset with Naruto for long. It was impossible – like being angry at an adorable puppy.

"Hey! Naru-kun! Check out what I bought at the weapons shop just now!" She exclaimed excitedly, rushing forward with a small package in her hands. Naruto met her half-way and she showed him a bundle of shiny, new senbon needles. Before Naruto could say a thing, a muted _poof_ sound was heard as their sensei arrived in a cloud of smoke.

"Morning everyone, ready for your first day?" Kakashi greeted them in his smooth, lethargic voice. He hadn't even finished speaking before Sakura and Naruto all but pounced on him.

"HEY, YOU'RE LATE!"

"Well a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way," he told them, not missing a beat. Mari's teammates looked between her and her dad in disbelief. Naruto was more shocked than the other two.

"_No way! She was actually telling the truth? There's no way… why did it take him so long though? THERE IS NO __LONG WAY!__"_

Mari grinned at her dad to eye-smiled back at her. _"Great minds think alike eh, Kashi-tou?"_ She thought to herself with a small chuckle. Her dad caught on and his visible eye sparkled in amusement, the other still hidden by his lopsided hatai-ate as per usual and the rest of his face hidden by a black mask that left only his right eye showing.

Seeing that Mari's friends weren't all that impressed with his excuse, Kakashi just cleared his throat casually and continued, walking over to three short kicking posts in the center of the training field. "Well, let's get started." The four genin watched curiously as he took a small timer out of his bag and set it on the top of the middle post, clicking the starter down on the top with a small _chk_. "Here we go. It's set for noon."

Mari looked at her dad strangely. This was a timed test? Since when?

"Your assignment is very simple," the silver-haired sensei told them, holding two silver bells out for them to see. "You just have to take these bells from me… before the time's up. That's all there is to it. Those who don't have a bell by noon go without lunch."

"Wha?~" Mari and Naruto cried in surprise. Mari was suddenly very grateful to have eaten something before the test. _"Jeez, dad, that's harsh…"_

Kakashi pointed to the three posts near the group. "You'll be tied to those posts, and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you," he continued as though he hadn't been interrupted.

Naruto whined histrionically, his empty stomach already hurting.

"_So that's why…"_ an equally hungry Sasuke thought, grudgingly coming to the same conclusion his teammates had.

"_He told us not to eat breakfast to make it harder on us!"_ Sakura internally complained. That came to a halt when she suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute, there's four of us! How come there's only two bells?" She demanded.

Kakashi chuckled, already having expected such a question. "You only have to get one bell. There are only two to ensure that at least two of you will definitely get tied to the stump and ultimately be disqualified for failing to complete the mission. This means that at least two of you will be sent back to the Academy."

Mari's heart jolted in her chest, her breath freezing in her throat as she realized that this could be the end for her. She, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke… any of them could be sent back… TODAY! All of their hard work would be for nothing, all of the training, the blood, sweat and tears…

"_Grrrr! I'm not going to give up! I've got to pass this test. NARUTO has to pass this test! The two of us are in this together! Sakura and Sasuke… they don't even like us… we've worked hard to get here and we aren't backing down!"_ She was determined, and that much was obvious. She didn't notice her dad pick up the glint in her eye or sigh inwardly.

"_She's not going to go about this right…"_ he thought to himself. A small frown formed on his face, unseen by his students. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke looked equally determined. Naruto even looked a little angry and Sasuke rather peeved.

"Then again, all four of you could flunk out too. You can use any weapons including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells." There was no doubt in his mind that this would be difficult for his daughter. She'd be fighting a loved one – something she never had to seriously do before. This wouldn't be like their training and he wouldn't be there to give her second chances or go easy on her. If she didn't pass this test, then it would simply be for her own good. He knew she would understand.

"But you'll be in danger!" Sakura protested. Naruto just laughed, suddenly feeling cocky and confident.

"Especially since you couldn't even dodge that blackboard eraser!"

"_Eraser?"_ Mari didn't know anything about an eraser. Did Naruto pull some prank on her dad while she was in the bathroom yesterday? Now that she thought about it, it was definitely something he would do.

"In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest. Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores, losers," Kakashi-sensei remarked coolly, getting a rise out of Naruto once more. "Well… Ignore Mr. Dead Last. When I say start, you can begin."

Before the other three could blink, Naruto was whipping out a kunai and attacking Kakashi, ready to prove that he wasn't a loser. Just as he brought down the kunai, an unfazed Kakashi caught the fist holding the knife with ease and twisted Naruto's arm around so fast that none of them could see it. Mari and Sakura gasped at seeing the tip of the kunai pointed at the back of Naruto's neck, still in the blonde boy's hand, but being directed by their sensei. Naruto struggled but was held in place by Kakashi who had grabbed a fistful of his hair for just such a purpose.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet," the silver-haired man jibed, his tone almost poking fun at him. Naruto growled loudly in frustration but conceded and Kakashi let him go, leaving him to nurse his sore arm.

"_He's so fast,"_ Sakura wondered to herself in awe. _"I didn't even see it!"_

"_So this __is__ a jounin,"_ Sasuke thought with narrowed eyes. At least he knew his sensei wasn't as weak as he at first seemed.

Mari watched the move with nothing but admiration. She loved watching her dad fight and train. It always filled her up with this burning determination to someday make him proud. Her dad was already so amazing that she didn't know if it was possible, but she'd try.

"_But_," her dad continued, "you came at me with the full intention of destroying me. It seems that you're finally prepared to come at me with the intent to kill. So you've finally acknowledged me?" He knew the blonde underestimated him greatly and would certainly use it to his advantage, not that it would even matter if this was all Naruto had to offer. "Heh," he chuckled, "It seems like I'm beginning to actually like you guys." He ruffled Naruto's hair, noticing his students brighten at his words, before stepping back.

"Okay, let's get going. Ready… BEGIN!"

_FWOOOOSH!_

_**Meanwhile, somewhere in the Hokage Building…**_

In a large room with pale green linoleum tiles and floor to ceiling windows sat two familiar men – the Sandaime Hokage and Umino Iruka – talking over a cup of tea. The Hokage was in his usual garb of a red robe with a white sash under a white over-robe. Atop his head he wore a red hat that looked rather flat – only the slightest curve in its make – with a small diamond of white on the very front, decorated with the kanji for fire as a symbol of the Fire Country. For the time being he had set his wooden pipe off to the side in favor of the cup of jasmine tea before him.

"Iruka, what did you wish to see me about?" Came the elderly man's inquiry. His voice sounded warm but serious. He could tell the man before him was worried about something. "I don't think you came here merely to drink tea with me and chat, did you?"

Iruka leaned forward on his elbows, his hands folded together neatly. The sunlight streaming through the window put the scar across his nose into deep contrast and lit up with honey brown eyes to expose the concern within their depths.

"Naruto's been assigned to Squad Seven," the chunin stated, getting straight to business. "The jounin in charge of that group… just how tough a trainer is he?"

"Kakashi, you mean," the Hokage nodded, now understanding the source of the young man's troubles. "You are concerned about him."

"I am," Iruka affirmed resolutely. "I heard a rumor about his training methods."

Sarutobi hummed, his suspicions confirmed. He drank his tea while he organized his thoughts, an attentive Iruka sitting across the wooden table, waiting to hear what his leader would have to say on the subject. Finally the Hokage reached into a pocket on the inside of his robes and pulled out a small book. It was green in color – perhaps a shade of jade – with dark blue boarders. On its cover were two kana symbols. Iruka looked down at it, taking a careful analysis of the book's cover, before meeting the Hokage's eyes.

"What's this?"

"All the trainees who've ever been assigned to him; those who passed and those who failed." Iruka's eyes widened with interest as he carefully took the offered book.

"May I?" He wondered out loud, wishing to look through it. Sarutobi gave him a solemn nod and Iruka proceeded to look through it. A few moments and several pages later, Iruka had adopted an astonished and disbelieving expression.

"_This… This is-!"_

_**Back with Squad Seven**_

Mari took off towards the trees to take cover and think of a plan. She hid herself carefully in a bush just inside the tree line as she had done thousands of times before over the years in school and while training. It seems Sasuke and Sakura had done the same, but Naruto…

"The most important thing for a shinobi is to be able to hide yourself," the silver-haired jounin said aloud, knowing his students were listening. "So ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively to gain the advantage.

"_Well they understand that much,"_ he thought to himself. _"They've all hidden very well."_

At that moment, an orange blob caught his attention and he looked to see Naruto standing in the center of the field Kakashi was in, arms crossed and daring grin confident.

"YOU AND ME! RIGHT NOW! FAIR AND SQUARE! LET'S GO!" The blonde said loudly. If Kakashi didn't know any better he'd say the blonde was only talking so loud because they were outside.

"Hm?" Kakashi tilted his head and squinted his visible eye in a confused manner. The expression in his eye was clearly portraying his thoughts concerning Naruto's lack of common sense.

Mari resisted the urge to face-palm, instead opting to shake her head.

"You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit… _weird_," Kakashi told his daughter's best guy friend. Now that he thought about it, why _did_ she hang out with this kid? He'd never thought to ask.

"Oh yeah? The only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto retorted. Mari huffed upon hearing that, though she didn't take it too personally. _She_ thought her dad's hair was cool.

Naruto's teammates watched quietly from their hiding places as the blonde charged Kakashi head-on. Kakashi apathetically stuck his hand in his kunai pouch, causing Naruto to halt warily.

"Shinobi Battle Techniques Part One: Taijutsu, the physical art. I'll teach you about it."

"_Taijutsu! That's hand to hand combat! Then why is he reaching for a weapon?"_ Naruto glared at his sensei, eyes locked on the silver-haired man's every move. What Kakashi took out of the pouch, however, wasn't a kunai.

"_You've got to be kidding me, dad! Really? Really? You're going to read that while TRAINING US?"_ Mari's thoughts accused him. _"I never thought I'd see the day that my dad would train and read his porn books simultaneously."_

The little orange book looked harmless enough. On the front cover was a brunette man chasing a green-haired woman with the words _Come Come Paradise_ in black across the top. It was a book in a series written by a man named Jiraiya. Naruto may not have known the nature of the book, but it didn't stop him from being confused as to why his sensei pulled it out… and suspicious of the name.

"What the –,"

"What are you waiting for? Make your move," Kakashi told him, standing casually with his dark grey eye glued to the book.

"But… I mean… Hey? What's with the book? Why are you reading it?"

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course! Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or whatever."

Mari stifled a small laugh and took a moment to glance around for her other teammates. She was pretty sure they were watching, but where were they? Were they coming up with a plan to get the bells or just waiting for an opportunity to attack? Now would be the ideal time since her dad was distracted, even though she figured it'd only be too easy for him to take on a handful of genin.

"_The only way we're going to pass this test is if we work together,"_ she thought to herself. _"Psh, yeah right. Like Sasuke or Sakura would work with me… If they don't want my help then good riddance to them! After Naruto gets himself out of this mess I'll team up with him and we can get those bells together!"_

"RAAAAHHHHHH! I'M GOING TO PUNCH YOOOOUUUUUU!" Obviously Naruto was letting her dad's teasing go to his head.

"_Naruto! Don't just tell the enemy what you're going to do!"_ Mari wanted to yell out, watching her friend go in for the kill.

Naruto closed the distance between him and his sensei, throwing a punch to the side of his face, only for Kakashi to block it. He landed and spun into a spinning back hook kick only for Kakashi to duck with ease. Naruto saw his opportunity and swung another punch to the man's jaw…

"HA! NOW YOU'RE MINE!"

… Only for it to hit… air?

Behind him crouched Kakashi, his hands folded together in a hand seal and the book clasped between his palms.

"Don't let your enemy get _behind _you all the time. A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught from behind… baka."

Sakura gasped as she watched, crouched low to the ground in a small bush. Her jade eyes were locked on the scene before her – particularly on her sensei.

"_A hand seal to focus his chakra! Is that the Tora seal? __**(A/N: Tiger seal)**__ What? No way! He's going to use a jutsu against Naruto! That's dangerous! He could destroy Naruto with that!"_

From where Sasuke knelt on a high tree branch he watched the scene with just as much concentration.

"_That hand seal is for a fire jutsu. He's not just toying with Naruto, he's going to demolish him."_

"NARUTO! GET OUT OF THERE QUICK! HE'S GOING TO DESTROY YOU!" Sakura suddenly yelled, standing from her hiding place and giving away her position immediately. Where Mari was hiding she sucked in a breath both seeing and hearing the pink-haired kunoichi loud and clear.

"_What does she think she's doing?"_ Then she felt like she was punched in the gut. _"Being a better friend than you obviously!"_

"_But I can't do anything! My dad wouldn't use a jutsu on us, we're way too weak! The best bet I have at helping Naruto is waiting for my dad to be distracted by something else so we can make a plan!"_

"_Whatever you say; in the meantime you're letting your best bud get beat to a pulp!"_

Mari ground her teeth as she contemplated what she should do.

"Too late," Kakashi said matter-of factly. Naruto tried to get out of the way but was too slow. "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!"

_**Needless to say, my dad decided to spice up the day with a little surprise. It was one I'd never let Naruto forget.**_

"A THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!"

"_W-Wha?" _Mari thought. _"What was – he just – but he…"_

"That wasn't a hand seal at all! He just poked him," Sakura mumbled to herself, feeling annoyed and a bit embarrassed.

"Those two are just two idiots," Sasuke articulated under his breath.

Meanwhile, in a bush not far off, Mari finally found her words.

"Why the hell did my dad just poke Naruto in the butt?" She spluttered, her eyes never leaving Naruto as the poor kid flew through the air and landed in the lake on the Training Grounds.

_**Despite the fact that the move was… weird… all four of us genin suddenly got the idea.**_

_**This wasn't going to be anything like the Academy.**_

* * *

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You're all very loved, even those of you who've just read a few chapters. I appreciate each and every person who even considers reading my story. Even the flamers (who I've had none of yet and honestly hope I never have to have) are appreciated.

Your humble authoress,

~Mari


	14. Bells, Snares, and Taijutsu

**So sorry for the long wait...**

**DON'T EAT ME! *flinches and ducks***

NOTE!

"Normal Sakura"

'Inner Sakura'

Chapter Fourteen

**With Squad Seven:**

The silence was deafening. After Kakashi's attack, Naruto had body slammed rather painfully into the lake at the edge of the clearing, causing both Sakura and Mari to wince simultaneously. Kakashi had gone back to reading his book as though nothing had happened; seemingly oblivious to his surroundings though by now the three remaining genin knew that it was just a façade. Now all was quiet – so quiet, in fact, that Mari found it almost hard to breathe for fear that someone would hear and her cover would be blown.

Sakura was studying Kakashi meticulously from her new hiding place in a bush not too far from Mari. _'That must be against the rules. He's a jounin! We can't possibly match his strength,' _she thought in disbelief, narrowing her eyes at the jounin critically.

Mari, however, was focused on the lake. _'Just what is Naruto doing down there?'_ Sakura's brunette teammate wondered with rough curiosity. Her ocean blue eyes narrowed as her gaze flickered between the lake and her dad. Should she attack? Should she sneak over to check on Naruto? Just as she was preparing to make her move towards the lake, two shuriken flew at lightning speed from the water, headed straight for Kakashi. Her eyes flew wide in shock and a gasp was ripped from her throat when her dad caught the shuriken without even looking up, the deadly little windmill blades rotating to a halt each around one of Kakashi's fingers.

'_Wh-wha?!'_

**With Iruka and the Hokage:**

"I-It can't be… This is even worse than the rumors!" Iruka professed, not liking what he was reading. His expression was akin to shocked disbelief – even a hint of fear for his ex-students. In his hands he held the blue-green book the Hokage had offered him only moments before. Each and every page was all but the same.

"Kakashi's test may be a bit more difficult than the others," The Hokage allowed with an understanding nod.

"A bit more difficult?! Not a single student has ever passed his test," the chunin asserted, growing increasingly worried about his former student's abilities to truly become genin.

"That's true," the Sandaime admitted seriously. "They all tried, but not one of them could live up to Kakashi's standards. So they were all… _eliminated._"

**With Squad Seven:**

'_He's reading and laughing! He's just playing with Naruto!'_ Were the worried thoughts of the pink-haired kunoichi. _'If he's just going to toy with us, how can we ever hope to get those bells?'_

Sasuke, Sakura, and Mari watched the shore of the lake apprehensively.

'_There!'_ Emerging from the lake was none other than a coughing Naruto. He crawled onto the small, rocky lake shoreline practically hacking up his lungs.

"What are you doing now?" Kakashi asked, his deep voice tainted with tones of boredom. "You know you won't get lunch unless you take a bell by noon."

"I know! I know!" Naruto griped, squinting up at his sensei as the water continued to drip from his soaked blond hair into his face. "You told us already!"

"You look pretty wobbly for someone who's going to surpass the Hokage," Kakashi goaded him further. He held back an amused smirk beneath his mask when Naruto's stomach growled loudly enough for him to hear. The blond groaned and gripped his stomach as it ached with hunger pains.

"RRRRGGG! YOU TOLD US NOT TO EAT BREAKFAST! HOW CAN I FIGHT WHEN I'M STARVING TO DEATH?!"

'_Breakfast?'_ Thought Sakura, pulling a pained expression as her stomach growled with hunger. _'I didn't even have dinner last night! A really bad idea to go on a diet…'_

With a small smirk, the blue-eyed, brunette kunoichi raised her hands into the familiar seals to make clones. They wouldn't be solid, like Naruto's, but she had a pretty good feeling Naruto was working on some kind of distraction. If that was so, she would take advantage of it and act now. With soft puffs of white smoke, three clones appeared and immediately set out in different directions for a surprise attack. With one last glance at Naruto, Mari quickly took to the trees to reach her own position for the attack. Imagine her surprise when she leapt from a branch to see Sasuke perched on a branch a few feet below her.

'_Stupid Uchiha; if it wasn't for him and bubblegum head, Naruto wouldn't be so hungry right now,'_ the brunette thought spitefully, resenting her other two teammates. Their stupidity and the Uchiha's stubborn nature in particular was threatening Naruto's success and she'd be pissed if Naruto failed and couldn't be on the team. _'Like hell I'd work well with those two. I'd probably end up doing all of the work – Sakura would be too busy fan-girl-ing and Sasuke would be too busy trying to look tough and cool.'_ Okay, so maybe that wasn't exactly true. Sasuke _was_ the top male rookie of their class after all, but she had every right to be annoyed with them for how they treated Naruto and herself earlier.

Sasuke glanced up at her and she gave him a piercing look before continuing on her way, leaving him wondering just what she was up to.

"SO YOU CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD! BELIEVE IT!" Naruto was shouting after Kakashi from his place on the shore of the lake; the silver haired jounin had turned and had begun walking away at that point, proving Naruto's dramatic arm-waving to be pointless. "I WAS JUST A LITTLE CARELESS, THAT'S ALL!"

"Ever hear that carelessness can be your worst enemy?" Kakashi replied nonchalantly, nose buried in his book.

Naruto slumped forward slightly, holding his stomach as it churned uneasily, begging for food. "I'm so hungry I don't have any strength," _grrrrrooooowwwwlllll_, "but I can't let that stop me! I've got to get one of those bells no matter what. I'll find the strength somehow – dattebayo! I'm gonna pass this test, and I'm NOT going back to the Academy!" He glared at his sensei's back with determination – a fire blazing in his eyes that no one could put out. _'I'm going to make him… ACKNOWLEDGE ME!"_

"I _WILL_ become a ninja!" Mari heard Naruto assert. A smile found its way to her lips as she communicated with her clones to get ready for the attack. At that very moment, Naruto's own clones leapt from the water.

"Haha! You're overconfident, sensei!" One of the seven Naruto clones exclaimed. "That's why you weren't ready for a Shadow Clone attack! My specialty, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! You better not get careless! There's more than one of me now!"

'_Seven clones, huh?'_ Mari grinned. She was still holding him to teaching her that jutsu some time – it was way beyond cool! Seeing their sensei distracted by Naruto's own distraction, Mari and her clones moved in, silently creeping closer to Kakashi – a great contrast to Naruto's noisy, straightforward charge.

"It looks like the stories are true," the silver-haired jounin mused. "He _can_ create Shadow Clones – clones that are not just illusions, but multiple real bodies. It's a forbidden skill… and he defeated Mizuki with it." The clones came to an abrupt halt, half-circling Kakashi.

"Great technique, but I don't think you can maintain it for very long. You _talk_ like you're the best, Naruto, but you're _still _the worst student. You can't beat me with this jutsu," he sighed, knowing his words were likely in vain if Naruto's stubborn nature was as consistent as it had so far been proven to be. What he didn't expect, though, was a clone to have snuck up behind him – three to be exact. Two clones of his daughter tackled his legs while the _real_ Naruto clung to their sensei's back.

'_What?! He got me from behind!'_

Naruto laughed victoriously. "Didn't you say 'don't let your enemies get behind you?' Good advice, sensei! Dattebayo!" Naruto's other clones joined in helping to hold Kakashi down. "I had one of my clones come out of the river and then sneak up behind you super quiet." Kakashi struggled against the vice grips of nine Academy graduates, jostling the bells around so they slipped past Mari's fingers as she reached up to grab for them. She reached father and nearly had them when –

"NOW THIS IS FOR NAILING ME IN THE BUTT EARLIER!" One of Naruto's clones came rushing in for the final blow.

'_Hey… Naruto's pretty good! When did he get so cool?'_ Sakura cheered inwardly. Even Sasuke admitted to himself that it was a good plan. _'A diversionary tactic… nice.'_

Suddenly Kakashi disappeared, causing both Mari's and Naruto's clones to stumble to the ground, but the real Naruto was suddenly holding… _Naruto?_ A loud thwack was heard as the clone ended up punching Naruto… wait… which one was the real one again?

Frowning, Mari's clone looked around discreetly for any signs of their sensei.

'_He's probably used the Kawarimi no Jutsu,' _she deduced. _'The Body-Replacement Technique.'_

"ITAI!" (Ouch!)

"It's you!" the clone that had done the punching accused the clone he'd punched. "YOU'RE KAKASHI-SENSEI, AREN'T YOU?! YOU TRANSFORMED INTO ME USING HENGE NO JUTSU!"

"Naru-kun!" Mari tried getting his attention – or rather, her clone did. The real Mari was still off in the trees, keeping a lookout for her father – no, her sensei. If she was going to pass this test, she'd have to start thinking more like a ninja. This wasn't some everyday training exercise with her dad, it was the real deal. When her teammate started beating himself up she growled, the two ordinary clones trying to talk some sense into him before they dug themselves deeper into whatever Kakashi-sensei might have in store for them. She was uncomfortable being out in the open like this, especially with Naruto making such a ruckus. He was shouting all sorts of weird things.

"You are!"

"No, it's you!"

"It's not me!"

"You have Kakashi's old man smell!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"NARUTO! JUST UNDO THE JUTSU!" She shouted in one of his faces. He blinked, mid-swing, and then grinned, shouting to the others.

"HEY! LET'S UNDO THE JUTSU!"

"YEAH! THAT'S IT!" another exclaimed in response.

"THEN THERE'LL BE JUST TWO OF US SO WE'LL KNOW WHO'S WHO!"

"Should have thought of that sooner, fool," a rather bruised-looking clone grunted.

"YOU'RE THE JERK! WHY DIDN'T YOU THINK OF IT?!"

"YEAH! I'M _YOU,_ MORON!"

"OKAMI-SAMA, NARUTO! JUST UNDO THE JUTSU ALREADY!" Mari roared loudly, sorely wishing she was a real clone instead of just an illusion so she could slap him upside the head. Within seconds the jutsu was undone, leaving Naruto and two of Mari's clones standing all alone. One of the two brunettes suddenly dispersed, sensing the original's instructions and releasing the jutsu. If Naruto needed help, Mari wouldn't be of any assistance being in trouble as well, and she could smell trouble thick in the air. It was a basic tactics principle – always have backup.

'_Naruto, you are so NOT cool,'_ disparaged Sakura.

'_He got you with a Replacement Jutsu, loser,"_ Sasuke put into thought a harsher version of Mari's own. _'With the Kawarimi no Jutsu, you quickly switch your own body with an object so your enemy thinks he's attacking you when he's really attacking a log, a rock, a plant or animal, leaving him open to a counter attack. In this case, the Jounin __let__ himself get caught, and switched bodies with one of the Naruto clones, so Naruto __thought__ he was holding Kakashi down when actually he was just attacking and dealing damage to himself. And that Jounin was so smooth he made Naruto look like a total moron.'_

Naruto stood out in the clearing, nursing his sore pride more than his physical wounds. He had done quite the number on himself, his face marred with scratches and bruises. He hadn't known that the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu could have such a downside – when it was released, not only did the experiences and memories of the other clones join his mind, but the collective wounds appeared on his body as well.

The young shinobi had been staring idly at the ground when a silver glint caught his eye amongst the verdant green of the grass beneath the only tree that stood out from the edge of the clearing.

"A bell?!" He couldn't believe his luck! "Heheheh! I must have gotten to him with my attack – he must have been _desperate_ to escape! He dropped a _bell!_"

"Oh please, Naruto," Mari begged, "don't buy into it! It's a trap!" One that she, no doubt, would get him out of.

Just as Mari had thought, as soon as Naruto reached down to claim the silver trinket a rope tightened around his ankles and pulled, suspending him upside-down in mid-air from a tree branch. _'Oh, a snare. I've never actually used one before,'_ she sighed as Naruto cried out for help, swinging about as he struggled.

'_Of course it was a trap,'_ Sasuke expounded. _'That Jounin doesn't let down his guard even when he's fighting a fool like Naruto. He has no openings…'_

"Oh common! Let me down!" Naruto grunted as he fruitlessly struggled against his bonds in an attempt to reach the bell on the ground a good five feet or so out of his range. Just as Mari was about to pull out a kunai to cut him down, Kakashi strolled into sight and casually picked up the object of his student's attention, reattaching it to his belt. The Jounin sighed in exasperation, beginning to sound rather tired of Naruto's failed attacks.

"_Think_ before you use a jutsu or else your opponent might use it against you," the silver-haired man instructed dutifully, ignoring Naruto's whines. "Oh, and also, if the bait is obvious," he continued with more humor, his eye curving as he smiled a small smile of amusement, "don't take it." Naruto growled in frustration, his teeth grinding at the insult. "A ninja must see through deception and read underneath the underneath."

"I – GET – IT!" The blonde ground out as he continued to struggle. "I know that stuff!"

"I'm telling you because you don't 'get it'," Kakashi refuted, a firm undertone to his voice that revealed that he meant business. "You _think_ you get it, which is not the same as actually _getting it. __Get it__?_"

Sasuke, seeing that their sensei was distracted once more stood on his branch and pulled out several shuriken from his weapons pouch. His eyes were narrowed and brow furrowed in concentrated determination. _'This is my chance! He finally dropped his guard.'_

Mari watched impatiently from the sidelines for a chance to get in between the two, get Naruto, and get out. They needed to formulate a plan, not attack blindly – such a thing would never work with Kashi-tou. Just as she was thinking this, however, six shuriken speeded from spot in the trees a dozen-or-so yards away and were headed straight for her dad! _'Sasuke-san! I can't believe he'd use shuriken like that… or… maybe I can believe it. I would too, though I don't think it would do much good.'_ It was obviously not Sakura. She wouldn't have had the guts to really pick up a weapon against their sensei which made Mari question whether she'd have the nerve to do so against their enemies on a mission. _'If she passes, that is,'_ she thought ruefully.

"Won't you ever learn?" Kakashi was saying to Naruto. He'd barely finished the sentence when the shuriken hit him full-on, digging into his flesh with such force that it toppled him over…

"AHH! HE JUST GOT BLASTED BY SHURIKEN! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, SASUKE?! YOU WENT TOO FAR!" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura's cry of shock could be heard well across the clearing.

"CRAP! DAMNIT, SASUKE-SAN! DON'T KILL HIM!" Mari cried, preparing to leap forward and give her father medical aid.

She was going to kill that boy if her father was as hurt as he seemed to be. The emo teme had better watch his back after this…


End file.
